Imagine this; it is election day in town and everyone who is old enough to vote comes to the voting center to cast their ballots. Along with these people are 16 year olds who also have the new right to vote. Is this okay? Is this age too young for people to vote at? This is one of the many debates going on in todays world. Many people will say that they are for lowering the voting age because youth have to pay taxes, obey the same laws, and that they have a unique perspective on things (NYRA). My personal opinion is that 16 years old, is to young. Simply because I do not believe the people have a high enough maturity level to make decision like that, at that age. Getting more in depth though, I believe that youth are not well enough informed, are not mature enough, and …show more content…
They here about what is happening in the country and what decisions are being made in the world. Some teens could have interesting ideas and perspectives on what is going on that they can not share now
(Debono). Some people would say that it would be more democratic if 16 year olds could vote. The more people vote, the more voice citizens have. It could also raise the voter turnout. The U.S. currently has 60 percent of its people voting. The cons though, I believe out weigh the pros. Because teenagers spend all their time in a class room, they lack real world experience. One also has to think about what is really on someones mind at that time in life: Prom, high school, friends, and grades. They are not worried about voting of making decisions for our country. Even if they were, consider the maturity level of 16-17 year olds. If 16 year olds are not mature enough to consume alcohol or use tobacco, then voting isn 't any different (Debono). To me, lowering the voting age to 16 is absurd.
Teens lack real world experience. At 16 years old, people are just beginning to understand how the government works and how their decisions will affect the
It’s a right that American citizens need to embrace, and all of these ideas are just a way to give us a little kick in the back to get up and do it. It’s the 21st century and the government needs to get with the times and start connecting with the young voters. Elections can be won and lost over this issue, so the bottom line is; we are consumed with so much technology, we just need to integrate a voting aspect into it. Then who knows, maybe young America might not be so selfish after all.
Considering the delegates that are currently running for office, a voter should have a vast level of understanding regarding the intentions of each and every candidate. Arguing whether to raise or lower the age limit for the right to vote has raised many speculations as to how it would affect the economy. There are pros and cons within both sides of the argument, but any decisions made by the powers that be will have an adverse effect on today’s society if it is placed in the hands of the younger generation. Therefore, raising the voting age to twenty-one is a better way of making sure that voters are more aware and would be more equipped to making a more sound decision rather than lowering
Political inactivity on the part of young Americans stems from one fundamental source -- a general cynicism of the American political process. This disdain for politics is further perpetuated by a lack of voter education and a needlessly archaic voting procedure that creates barriers to voting where they need not exist. While many of these existing problems can be rectified with relative ease through the implementation of programs such as Internet voting and better voter education, such programs create only a partial solution.
When analyzing the voting turn out in this nation is becomes evident that the youth of America tends to be less active compared to their elders. Written in the book "Is Voting for Young People" by Martin P. Wattenberg he breaks down the key components connecting the youth of America to voting in order to come to the conclusion of how active the youth is in politics, and ways to make them more involved.
...eople not voting! Americans are becoming less educated on the issues that they are facing as well as the candidates running at the time of office. However, according Longley (2011) ”Still, 93 percent of infrequent voters agreed that voting is an important part of being a good citizen and 81 percent of nonvoters agreed it is an important way to voice their opinions on issues that affect their families and communities” (pg. 1).
Voting is one of the citizens’ rights living in a country. In the past, not everyone can vote. Voting used to be for only white American men. However, our ancestors fought for that rights. Eventually, any American who are older than eighteen can vote, despite their race or gender. In addition, voter turnout is used to keep track of the voting. It is the percentage of eligible voters who cast a ballot in an election. Unfortunately, the voter turnout has been decreasing over time, and it means that there are less and fewer people who actually show up and vote. This essay will discuss the voter turnout in Harris County, Texas.
Today in America, less than half of young voters between the ages of 18 and 24 vote (TheBestColleges.org). What most of these new adults fail to realize, is that their government depends on them to vote and elect new leaders to represent their country. Many of them make excuses to avoid voting, when really, they benefit most from voting.
Laws that young people are forced to obey are passed every day throughout the nation. Some of these laws only affect youth, such as curfew laws and compulsory school attendance laws. Most of these laws affect the whole population and all American citizens. Yet young people have no say in these laws, no say in the legislators that make these laws, no say in politics, no say in the rules that they must abide by. According to the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution, young people born in the United States are American citizens and deserving of "equal protection under the law."
As citizens we have, one of the biggest rights there is the right to vote. We gain this right at age eighteen. This is really our civic duty also. This gives us a say in how we live are life. By voting, you are helping make what comes of this country. It gives you a chance to have a voice in matters that will affect your life. The only way for change to happen is people getting out and voting. People should educate themselves on the candidates before they go out to vote. This way they know what the candidate is all about first. They should vote for the person and not the party. There has been talk about making voting mandatory. “Mandatory voting would make elections truly valid” (Liu, 2012). This should be something that is more looked into and would be great way of actually getting everyone involved in voting. If the rest of the population would vote that, can there would be more changes quickly. This would have the political
Although there are 44 million eligible young voters ages 18-29, in 2012 only 45% of them voted. These young people make up one fifth, or 21%, of the eligible voting population, yet they often do not vote. Voting is a tremendous gift! Young people in many other countries around the world have to fight to gain this right. In America, voting is often taken for granted by all age groups, but the youth take it for granted the most.
Walking into the polling place on voting day is always a great thing. There are people of all ages casting their vote and making their opinions known. A few older members of the community walk out of the booths and a few middle aged parents walk in to take their place. A school bus from the local high school drops of a busload of twelfth grade seniors, all eager to vote for the first time. There are several other young people chatting with friends about how they are going to vote on various issues. This might seem like a rare occurrence, but the same thing is happening all over the country.
People drink alcoholic substances for multiple different reasons such as anxiety, peer pressure, boredom, and rebellion. Kids and young adults under the age of twenty-one believe it or not, fall in this group of people. In a small town like Burnsville North Carolina there are few things to do for fun so most the people around here like to go to parties and have a little too much fun on the weekends. The drinking age is as of now twenty-one. Studies show that if the drinking age is lowered to eighteen the number of under age drinking and drinking between the ages of eighteen and twenty-one will decrease mainly due to the thrill of illegal doing being lost. By age eighteen, nearly seventy percent of young adults say
In “You’re 16, You’re Beautiful and You’re a Voter,” author Anya Kamenetz states her belief that the voting age should be lowered to sixteen. Kamenetz gives several premises to her argument.
Surprisingly, as I was conversing with other people my age, I realized many of them were not registered to vote. Once I found this out, I felt as if it was my duty to let them know how easy it is to get registered to vote and how important it is to have a “voice” in the upcoming presidential election. I started assisting people by guiding them through the process of getting registered to vote, however, I found a surprisingly high number of citizens had no interest in becoming registered. When I casually asked them why they did not want to register, they all responded similarly, saying, “No one good is running for president this year.” My thoughts were, if they don’t believe anyone decent is running, at least register to vote to choose which candidate is the better of, “the bad choices.”
The purpose of this project is to discuss the election system in the United States. For instance, the process for registering and voting in New York State will be described in this paper, and make some possible suggestions to help improve the voting process. Also, a discussion of political socialization is represented regarding the most important factors that influence how the young people gain their political views. Moreover, five unregistered potential voters will be provided with a voter registration card, and asked to fill it out. This paper will record the response from each individual whether they are going to participate in voting. In order to discuss the differences or similarities of the voting participation level between the United States and other countries, we will compare the voting participation level among young people in the US to young people from Canada, Britain and Germany respectively. In the conclusion, this paper will comment on the main reasons that many young people do not vote. We will also talk