# Teenager suffrage. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 3, 2004, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teenager-suffrage/232208 "2004-03-03T01:18:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Call\_me\_Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Call\_me\_Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Call_me_Frank)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2004, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teenager-suffrage/232208/21 "2004-03-03T21:23:59Z")
> [@fatmac98](#): > > 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. [hijack] I disagree. Many European countries allow 18 y/o’s to drink and they don’t seem to have a problem with it [/hijack] ---
**Author:** ![Ms2001](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ms2001/32/18463_2.png) [@Ms2001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms2001)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2004, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teenager-suffrage/232208/22 "2004-03-03T21:28:21Z")
> [@fatmac98](#): > > 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. . . Then hopefully someone will tell them about absentee voting. I don’t even know where my local polling place is, but I vote just the same - my ballot comes in the mail and I can fill it out at my leisure. > [@](#): > > 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. Really? They drink responsibly in other countries all the time. The U.S. has the highest drinking age in the world; it’s 18/19 in Canada, and 18 or lower across most of Europe. What makes American 18 year olds uniquely incapable of drinking responsibly? ---
**Author:** ![rose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/91b2a8/32.png) [@rose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rose)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2004, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teenager-suffrage/232208/23 "2004-03-03T21:42:58Z")
> [@](#): > > 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 that, **Snoopyfan** … too many of my peers are really uninformed; why should they make themselves vote? I would encourage them to get informed and then vote… but the freedom not to _is_ a right, just as the option of voting is a privilege. People died to give them a choice, not to force them into anything. But yeah, it’s definitely sad to see so much apathy. As for whether or not the voting age should be the same as the drinking age… I think it’s important to keep in mind that driving drunk is a major issue. American youth are already the worst demographc as far as car accidents go… letting more of them drink (although, admittedly, plenty already do) would result in a lot of preventable deaths. Giving 18-yr-olds the vote doesn’t put them in danger; giving them the right to drink does. ---
**Author:** ![fatmac98](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3ec8ea/32.png) [@fatmac98](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fatmac98)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2004, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teenager-suffrage/232208/24 "2004-03-03T21:45:48Z")
> [@Mr2001](#): > > Then hopefully someone will tell them about absentee voting. I don’t even know where my local polling place is, but I vote just the same - my ballot comes in the mail and I can fill it out at my leisure. > Really? They drink responsibly in other countries all the time. > > The U.S. has the highest drinking age in the world; it’s 18/19 in Canada, and 18 or lower across most of Europe. What makes American 18 year olds uniquely incapable of drinking responsibly? OK, don’t really want to hijack this thread any more than I already have so I’ll just say that the ones I deal with on a day do day basis are not prepared to have legal access to alcohol. ---
**Author:** ![Ms2001](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ms2001/32/18463_2.png) [@Ms2001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms2001)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2004, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teenager-suffrage/232208/25 "2004-03-03T22:18:51Z")
**rose** : Elderly drivers are as dangerous as young drivers, in terms of accidents per mile driven; young drivers are only considered more dangerous because they do more driving. IMO our efforts would be better spent on directly fighting drunk driving, rather than trying to fight it indirectly by focusing on teenage drinking. Drunk drivers are just as dangerous in Europe and Canada as they are in the U.S., but they don’t seem to have a teenage drunk driving epidemic - in fact, even though teenage drunk driving went down in the U.S. when the drinking age was raised, it went down at the same time in Canada, where the drinking age stayed the same. ---
**Author:** ![raz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@raz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raz)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2004, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teenager-suffrage/232208/26 "2004-03-03T23:50:29Z")
I fully intend on registering to vote when I turn 18 in May. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2004, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teenager-suffrage/232208/27 "2004-03-04T00:28:17Z")
Wow! Very cool replies. Both of my daughters started voting at 18, and are still quite political. One’s a fundie conservative, and the other is, er, quite the opposite. More like her pop. 😛 Both agree that more of their peers would get interested if there were a direct popular vote for president, though. We never made much progress on abolishing the electoral college. ☹ Maybe someday we’ll actually be allowed to vote for the president of our choice. Anyway, you _can_ change things. Especially in local matters. ---
**Author:** ![Quack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e99b99/32.png) [@Quack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quack)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2004, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teenager-suffrage/232208/28 "2004-03-04T00:34:09Z")
I thank you for getting the 26th passed. I’ll be 18 by the time of the election and I intend to exercise my right to vote. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2004, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teenager-suffrage/232208/29 "2004-03-04T00:42:57Z")
> [@rose](#): > > 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 was (am) a Vietnam veteran. I got out in '68, and it wasn’t much of a leap to feel that those exposed to possible service in a war should have a say in national politics, pro or con. But that wasn’t the only reason. My gf (later my wife) was 18 at the time and I knew a lot of her peers. I also went to community college and knew a lot of 18-20 yo’s there. They seemed smart and responsible enough to me to vote. At least as much as some of the more adult folks I knew. I was right. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2004, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teenager-suffrage/232208/30 "2004-03-04T03:15:22Z")
> [@rose](#): > > As for whether or not the voting age should be the same as the drinking age… I think it’s important to keep in mind that driving drunk is a major issue. American youth are already the worst demographc as far as car accidents go… letting more of them drink (although, admittedly, plenty already do) would result in a lot of preventable deaths. > > Giving 18-yr-olds the vote doesn’t put them in danger; giving them the right to drink does. I once started a thread on what I’m about to say, and got very few responses in agreement with my OP. I’ll say it again now: I would be okay with the drinking age the way it is, **if** there were more options for 18, 19, and 20 y/os to go out and hear live music, dance, or just hang out. Yes, I’ve heard the arguments against 18-to-enter-21-to-drink. I don’t think such a policy is as huge a headache as others do, but I’ve never owned a bar or club, so I won’t dismiss them completely, except on one count. Some people said in my other thread that over-21s don’t want to be around 18, 19 and 20 y/os. I say that if the bar or club is patronized mostly by people 21-25, it’s not **that** big a gap. They’re all out of high school, or about to be, so it’s not like teenyboppers are going to be hanging out with bikers. I’m 34, and I **still** think it sucks that 18, 19 and 20 y/os have such a dearth of places to go at night. Even teen clubs are often restricted to 17 and under. So when you hit 18, what’s there to do? Either the same stuff you did when you were in high school, which you don’t want to do because you’re ready to move on, or you group up in parking lots or binge out on illegally purchased alcohol at someone’s home. Or drink illegally **in** parking lots; I’ve been there. So give the people who fall into that gap some option. If it’s true that you don’t need alcohol to have a good time, then give them a chance to have a good time without alcohol. ---
**Author:** ![Cyberhwk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7993a0/32.png) [@Cyberhwk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyberhwk)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2004, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teenager-suffrage/232208/31 "2004-03-04T03:56:33Z")
> [@mangeorge](#): > > Did I (we) waste our time, or make a mistake? Not at all. I registered when I was 17 1/2 and have voted in every major issue since then. (Though that’s only been 2 1/2 years so that’s not saying much). I wouldn’t be discouraged by the lack of voting by young people (leave that to other people). You gained the right to vote for the people that really wanted the right. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2004, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teenager-suffrage/232208/32 "2004-03-04T06:05:36Z")
My Birthday is on Halloween, and I know I voted in '78, I just don’t remember for what or who. I vividly remember voting in 1980 though! I got up at 7a.m. to be the first person in line to vote for Reagan. Then I went home and went back to bed. It’s not like there were any jobs for me to go to! ---
**Author:** ![gex\_gex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/94ad74/32.png) [@gex\_gex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gex_gex)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2004, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teenager-suffrage/232208/33 "2004-03-04T13:15:11Z")
> [@](#): > > _originally posted by fatmac98_ > 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. Odd. I’m 20, and I’ve been drinking legally for the past 2 1/2 years. I’m a responsible drinker. In fact, I went to the pub and had a few beers this evening. I’d hate to think what it would be like for people learning how to drink responsibly when they’re 21. Even worse, I’d hate to think what it would be like if the legal drinking age here was 21. I’d imagine that I’d still drink, as Americans did during prohibition, but I’d drink a lot less safely. I couldn’t imagine doing stupid things like getting drunk in carparks at my age. As for voting, American laws don’t affect me, but I have voted at every election since I was 18, and I couldn’t imagine not doing it. I have strong political opinions, and I’m grateful that I can let them have some effect every so often. ---
**Author:** ![whiterabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/cab0a1/32.png) [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2004, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teenager-suffrage/232208/34 "2004-03-04T14:23:23Z")
I voted when I was 18, for what it’s worth. I was in my senior year of high school in Los Angeles when Proposition 187 was being voted on, and at least a quarter of my school (likelier half!) was concerned about being allowed to continue **going** to school. Can’t say I disagreed with them, but everybody who hit the magic 18 number was heavily encouraged to vote that year. Very heavily. ---
**Author:** ![Garfield226](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Garfield226](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garfield226)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2004, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teenager-suffrage/232208/35 "2004-03-04T19:46:39Z")
I am registered to vote and I plan to do so in this fall’s elections. Sadly, I also feel that many people my age are unprepared to vote, and thus don’t. I can say, having just exited that decade, that apathy is epidemic among teenagers. ---
**Author:** ![fluiddruid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@fluiddruid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fluiddruid)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2004, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teenager-suffrage/232208/36 "2004-03-05T07:26:13Z")
I voted at 18. I went to college in Madison, WI, and the students there are very politically active. The district covering the dorms and frat houses voted in the Memorial Union, and had such a record turnout one year that they ran out of ballots and students were waiting in line for over an hour to vote. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teenager-suffrage/232208.md?page=1)