17 year olds do not have the reasoning skills of an adult. The fact that they make decisions that affect themselves doesn’t equate to making the right decision.
And the moment they turn 18 (or 21, for that matter) they do have those skills? Most adults don’t even have the reasoning skills you might expect from an adult. As I mentioned in an earlier post, those cut-offs are entirely arbitrary and unrelated to any standard of reasoning that everyone attains at a certain age. Any dichotomous argument that people of ages 18 and up can do something that people below 18 can’t is bound to fail. Therefore, if you’re talking about whom to give the vote, don’t rely to heavily on such arguments.
I would not.
Such tests would be skewed, even if subconciously, by the individual(s) who framed the questions.
“I’m sorry, mlees, but you obviously don’t have a clue about what it is like to be a pregnant working teen. We’re going to have to deny your application to vote on June 3, which contains ballot measure proposition xyz. If you have any questions regarding this correspondance, please call our toll free number (1-800-CRY-BABY) between the hours of 8AM to 2PM, Monday through Thursday, excluding holidays.”
Magiver, would you support removing the voting rights from the elderly? More specifically, from those past an age which medical science has shown to be the onset of mental deterioration.
It depends what time zone you’re in but yes, at the precise moment you turn 18 you have the reasoning skills of an adult.
I would have answered no to this question until I had dinner with a 65 year old man that has decided that since people will be voting for Obama on the basis of his being black, that he can justify voting for McCain solely on the basis that he is white. IMHO, he fried his brain by virtue of his addiction to Fox News. As long as I’ve known him he’s been very supportive of the Republican party as a rule, I used to think he was pretty intelligent, although I disagreed considerably with his politics. This last comment has sufficiently convinced me that he’s lost it completely and I’m not all that thrilled knowing that he’s still voting.
So, my answer now is a reluctant yes.
That’s interesting. You’re not in favor of people voting based on race and would restrict voting rights based on that. Do you think that would help or hurt Obama?
My daughter is 17. She is a fantastic person, but I do not think she should be able to vote. Then again, she has a part time job and her salary is taxed. Isn’t there a problem with taking money from her without giving her a say in how it is spent?
I dunno. Half of the “adults” I interact with probably should not be able to vote. Then again, most of them do not vote. Hmmmmm.
Nope. I just think that he used to make better use of his critical thinking skills wrt his political beliefs. Based on the statement I mentioned, I simply don’t believe he’s doing that anymore, though I’m not certain if it’s because he’s lost his critical thinking skills due to age or because he’s been inundated with too much Fox News negativity. Either is distinctly possible. Nevertheless, I see a change that seems to have affected his thoughts and actions for the worse.
I’m not in favor of people voting based on race because candidates don’t choose their race; they do, however, choose their actions, platform and political affiliations, and I think it’s much more logical to base your support/opposition on that. Yes, it ticks me off when people vote for inane reasons like race, religion (and now, gender) without considering qualifications. I really don’t care if restricting voting based on race would help or hurt Obama, though I don’t know how you would go about doing that.
As far as restricting voting based on mental capacity, yeah, I might possibly be willing to go there. At the same time, my overall comfort is shaken a bit by any voting restrictions of adult citizens, including the current restriction of felons’ right to vote.
This is a legal definition. Do you have an actual answer to the question?
I think that voting should begin when a person graduates from the 8th grade, or passes equivalency tests for it. This would mean that a large number of younger people would be eligible to vote, but I’d wager that many of them wouldn’t have the interest to do so.
Thinking that children will likely vote with their parents shows ignorance of both that argument line and the behavior of children. The same argument was used to exclude wives from voting, and now we know that to be ridiculous. I personally would be more worried about children voting opposite of their parents just to be contrary and thereby canceling out parental votes. Overall I think there wouldn’t be a strong enough precedent one way or the other to justify denying the vote to children.
Realistically the age is unlikely to go under 18 because the majority of people who vote are significantly older than that and are horrified by the thought that they might have less control if younger people got to vote. I personally trust a teenager in junior high or high school to have a better grasp of the issues than someone in their forties. Usually they’re still actively inquiring and seeking to end their own ignorance. I believe that’s where the phrase “never trust anyone over 30” comes from. At some point around there people stop re-assessing their world view unless forced to. And sometimes not even then.
I’d be in favor of lowering the voting age by one year, to 17. In part, this is for the same reason as given by Svejk: they’d be more likely to continue to vote if you get them into the habit early.
In a more abstract sense, though, I think it would be a good way to foster a sense of being political, communal beings. If everyone’s voting while still in high school, you can tailor instruction and discussion about politics (through specialized civics classes, e.g.) in a way that will have more obvious, concrete relevance. If you want people to be a part of a club (in this case the club of politically conscious citizens) it helps to invite them, and I think there’s an opportunity to do this in a very effective way in high school that doesn’t exist in the same way at college.
I’ve found that the majority of fellow 16, 17, and 18-year old kids in my classes haven’t truly worked out their political views. They either admit to being unsure of their position or stand staunchly to a position that sounds straight out of their parents’ mouths.
Just as others have said, the level of maturity it takes to vote doesn't come from age. I know that some of my friends under 18 could go to the polling booth with an informed decision, but I know many others couldn't.
The main difference, I think, comes from responsibility. For example because I am still under my parents' guardianship, a lot of economic issues don't affect me directly. If there was some way to separate the sensible voters with the ones who don't know what the hell they're doing, I would be in support of lowering the voting age. But practically there isn't and I know too many high schoolers who aren't yet ready to vote (and probably won't be when they're 18 either).