# How old were you when you first voted for President? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [March 1, 2016, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-were-you-when-you-first-voted-for-president/747633 "2016-03-01T14:53:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-were-you-when-you-first-voted-for-president/747633/21 "2016-03-01T18:14:16Z")
20 years old when I first voted. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-were-you-when-you-first-voted-for-president/747633/22 "2016-03-01T18:20:44Z")
> [@PSXer](#): > > I’m 26 and I’ve never voted in any election Now, there’s an option that completely skipped my mind. I should have thought of that one. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-were-you-when-you-first-voted-for-president/747633/23 "2016-03-01T18:40:30Z")
> [@NeonMadman](#): > > No, they are prohibited from taking part in politics. They believe that Christians must be absolutely neutral with regard to political matters, because Jesus said His followers were “no part of the world.” If only the evangelicals could get that message . . . ---
**Author:** ![Locrian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/locrian/32/14146_2.png) [@Locrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Locrian)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-were-you-when-you-first-voted-for-president/747633/24 "2016-03-01T18:46:26Z")
Born in December, so I missed the Bush/Dukakis one in 1988. First was 1992, at 21. First one I voted for was the other Clinton. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Kron](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kron/32/12444_2.png) [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-were-you-when-you-first-voted-for-president/747633/25 "2016-03-01T19:02:53Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > 20 in November 1980. I vote every chance I get, even though I live in a place so thoroughly Democratic that my vote is close to meaningless. I suppose I should move to Cody, Wyoming. 20 in 2000, with the opposite problem- I live in Wyoming and vote Democrat (as pointless an exercise as there is). ---
**Author:** ![missred](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/missred/32/14096_2.png) [@missred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missred)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-were-you-when-you-first-voted-for-president/747633/26 "2016-03-01T19:08:43Z")
The first presidential election that I was eligible to vote in was 1984, when I was 21. I actually held a local elected office before being able to vote for Mondale. ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-were-you-when-you-first-voted-for-president/747633/27 "2016-03-01T19:33:33Z")
18, in the June 1980 California primary I don’t think I’ve missed an election since, including one that had only one item on the ballot, and it was a school board election where you voted for “no more than three” and there were only three candidates. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-were-you-when-you-first-voted-for-president/747633/28 "2016-03-01T19:49:47Z")
First one I voted for was Dukakis. No regrets. ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-were-you-when-you-first-voted-for-president/747633/29 "2016-03-01T19:56:46Z")
I voted first for George H. W. Bush in 1988, a vote I do not regret, even though I left the GOP in the 1990s when the party’s coddling of wackos and extremists got to be too much for me to stand. ---
**Author:** ![NeonMadman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/58f4c7/32.png) [@NeonMadman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NeonMadman)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-were-you-when-you-first-voted-for-president/747633/30 "2016-03-01T20:31:58Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > If only the evangelicals could get that message . . . So who should take part in politics then? Only atheists and agnostics? I think the JWs are wrong about that, and that Christians, as well as everyone else, ought to get involved in the political process. Government should reflect the views of all the people, not just those who lack religious convictions. Of course, that means that some of the people having input will have views you dislike. Guess what? They dislike your views every bit as much. Unfortunately, it seems that certain factions in this country (the US) are leaning much closer to trying to disenfranchise those whose views are not politically correct. That way lies tyranny. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-were-you-when-you-first-voted-for-president/747633/31 "2016-03-01T20:45:49Z")
I’m 38, still haven’t. Thinking about it this year. We shall see. ---
**Author:** ![HubZilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ccd318/32.png) [@HubZilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HubZilla)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-were-you-when-you-first-voted-for-president/747633/32 "2016-03-01T20:53:05Z")
I was 20 in 1992, voted for Perot. I felt like such a rebel in my youth. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-were-you-when-you-first-voted-for-president/747633/33 "2016-03-01T22:52:43Z")
I was 23 in '68, and voted for Humphrey. I was 19 in '64, but you had to be 21 to vote then. ---
**Author:** ![kurtisokc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbce88/32.png) [@kurtisokc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kurtisokc)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2016, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-were-you-when-you-first-voted-for-president/747633/34 "2016-03-02T03:01:04Z")
21, in 1992. I could have voted in 1988 if I had been born a month sooner. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2016, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-were-you-when-you-first-voted-for-president/747633/35 "2016-03-02T03:55:08Z")
I was 21 in 1972, and voted for McGovern. I wasn’t eligible to vote in 1968. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2016, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-were-you-when-you-first-voted-for-president/747633/36 "2016-03-02T04:03:09Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > 19, and my first opportunity. Yep, me too. The first presidential election after I was of age wasn’t until 1996. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2016, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-were-you-when-you-first-voted-for-president/747633/37 "2016-03-02T04:11:33Z")
I was 20 and it was the first opportunity to vote for a president. I’ve voted in every presidential and mid-term election that I’ve been eligible for. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2016, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-were-you-when-you-first-voted-for-president/747633/38 "2016-03-02T04:39:35Z")
I was born in 1961, so I first voted in 1979. Not many important elections in New York that year- just for my state assemblywoman and a few judges, as I recall. First Presidential election, of course was 1980, and I voted for Reagan. ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2016, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-were-you-when-you-first-voted-for-president/747633/39 "2016-03-02T04:47:54Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > 20 in November 1980. I vote every chance I get, even though I live in a place so thoroughly Democratic that my vote is close to meaningless. I suppose I should move to Cody, Wyoming. No, no, no–you should move to [Florida](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Butterfly_large.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2016, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-were-you-when-you-first-voted-for-president/747633/40 "2016-03-02T21:14:01Z")
> [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](#): > > 20 for my first presidential vote. I think I’ve voted every year since turning 18. This. I was 20 in 1976, and I’ve never missed an election, even local, off-schedule votes. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-were-you-when-you-first-voted-for-president/747633.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-were-you-when-you-first-voted-for-president/747633.md?page=3)