Well, It’s been more than 30 years, and I’m wondering what young people think of
this.
I was 26 at the time, and very active in getting the 26th passed.
So, youngsters, do you apppreciate having the right to vote, whether or not you exercise that right? Did I (we) waste our time, or make a mistake?
Peace,
mangeorge
I’ll be happy to vote in the next presidential election… so will many of my friends. I think the biggest reason, as I’m sure must have been part of your reasoning at the passing of the 26th, is that anyone who is eligible for the draft absolutely must have a say in the government.
But apathy still runs high within my generation, and we still haven’t turned out in numbers high enough to make candidates address our issues… but hey, these things take time, i guess. Those of us who use our voice are happy to have the privilege.
I appreciated it. I voted for the first time at age 19, in the 1972 general election.
I’m 18; I vote, and most of my friends do also. But my friends and I are all really political, so that’s to be expected. The vast majority of my acquaintances know very little about politics, let alone voting.
so no, it’s not a waste - but it’s a damn shame that more young people don’t take advantage of the vote. I wish I could have voted in 2000, in fact. I feel that I was informed enough then to make an intelligent decision. But I do see the practicality of the age cut-off at 18; I can imagine parents influencing kids to an even greater extent if the cut-off was at 16 or so.
I voted for the first time earlier this year in a local election. I would have done so sooner, but I was attending college in another part of the state and ran into a lot of problems with registration.
I really appreciate it. I wish more of my peers did. There seem to be three kinds of people on campus - those who are Young Republicans and know every single detail of what “their” candidate is up to, those like me, who look at all the candidates and choose indepently of party affiliation, and the ones who really don’t care about voting for anything but homecoming queen. It’s rather sad.
I appreciated being able to vote in 2000, and I respect the dedication you must’ve had to go out and put effort into getting the voting age lowered once you already had your own voting rights. I believe in lowering the voting age even further (as well as lowering some other age limits), but honestly I don’t have the motivation to do any more about it than post on message boards or write checks.
Depends on the person. Some people are really informed and care a lot, others couldn’t care less. I’m somewhere in between. Just voted for the first time last year (voting age is 18 here), but mainly because my mother drove me to the polling station. Otherwise I probably wouldn’t have bothered.
Though to be honest, I do appreciate being able to vote. After so many years of being a teenager, it was nice to finally have some, if really really small, say in how things are run.
This board is populated by intelligent, involved, thoughtful people. As such, I think this question is going to get responses wildly, and sadly, at odds with the responses of the overall public. But the 26th was still a great, and fair, idea.
I was happy to have the right to vote when I turned 18 (in 2000). The times I’ve voted since gave me a good feeling, like I actually have a say in the country’s future.
A lot of my friends vote, though I think (at the time) the issue of the legal drinking age was more important to them than voting.
I’ve only voted a couple times, but I appreciated it. Once was to kick the Gov. of my state some vote-based love for giving me money for college. DEFINITELY appreciated it then.
But, again, this board is exceptional.
I’m 18 and voted today. So did Orange Skinner.
I appreciate my suffrage and plan on using it…some of my friends, on the other hand are in the “My vote doesn’t count” crowd… poor sots…
I voted the very first time I was able. The vote’s wasted on teens as much as it is on anyone else.
I think there are several reasons why younger people may not vote as often. First of all, young people tend to move around frequently. Then, they realize on election day they’re still registered at their old address. Also, off at college, they may not tend to vote in local elections as they could probably care less who is mayor of a town they won’t live in after graduation. Plus the inconvenience of getting absentee ballots from their home town should they choose to remain registered there.
I think the issues matter as well. The infamous 2000 “lock box” and prescription drug debates aren"t going to excite younger people as much as issues like war.
I appreciated it – the change was during a particularly nasty fight to get the school budget passed in our district, and I was glad to be able to vote on it.
The 18-year-old voting amendment was passed during the Vietnam War era, and the argument was that “if you are old enough to fight, you are old enough to vote”, which has a certain logic to it.
Nowadays, 18-year-olds are considered mature enough to be trusted with the vote, to fight and die for their country, get married, enter into contracts, etc., etc… but not mature enough to drink alcoholic beverages.
Sort of spoils the whole argument.
Just asked a class of 20 teenagers how many plan to vote and 17 said they did. Then I asked how many of them were registered already, number dropped to 2. Of the 15 unregisterd, only 3 knew what to do to get registered befor next November.
FWIW, I gather that most of them would like to vote, but only if it doesn’t mean they are going to miss whatever is on MTV, BTV, Fox that night. . .
BTW, I voted when I was 18, thanks for your help.
I completely agree with you.
Yes I vote, and I can’t stand people who don’t. Unless you are in a coma, you should get your butt to the polls and exercise the right that people died to give you. I don’t care if you vote for Mickey Mouse, just VOTE FOR SOMEBODY dammit!
And then OTOH, if someone has that much contempt for this country that they can’t be bothered, maybe they SHOULDN’T vote. Maybe they should just smoke another joint or whatever and let those who care make the country’s decisions.
I agree with you guys also. . . BUT. . . I’d raise the draft age and the voting age before I’d lower drinking age. 18 year olds are not ready to drink responsibly.