The Voting Age

Thousands of these young adults are politically informed, politically active and have the concerns and demands many of the people who actually vote have. However, the youth of Canada also have concerns of their own which they are unable to address substantially. People under the age of eighteen for the most part are concerned in matters much different than say an employed thirty five-year-old. The youth under eighteen still are in high school they are concerned about as a grade 10 student from Western Canada High School put "class sizes, teacher disputes, and minimum wage", (Thompson) among other things. He later goes on to state the fact that by the time he has indeed graduated and become eighteen years old, he will no longer be interested in class sizes nor teacher disputes, therefore he will not address them in his decision on who he decided to vote for. This is a very valid argument and it is also true for the most part to say that the voices of these concerned children should be heard via the vote of their parents. The government of Canada sees the parents as a voice for their children, however parents inevitably will vote in a bias towards their needs such as tax cuts. Without the availability and opportunity to vote and voice their opinions in an electoral system the youth of Canada are left to impact the political process in other ways. Thousands of youth are involved in political parties, political rallies and interest groups

Since 1972, youth voter turnout has been on the decline. According to the Child Trends Databank, 50 percent of Americans aged 18 to 24 participated in the 1972 presidential election (2015). Nearly three decades later, the percentage of young adults aged 18 to 24 who voted in the 2000 presidential election had dropped eighteen

Although, being a teenager myself I do have a clear understanding about the momentous moment certian teeangers in the Montgomery County are being offered, but was it worth the controversy within the government to finally make it happen. A Fred Schultz, elaborated on the issue that the outcome would not be as rewarding for the amount of time that was spent to grant this right to the counties teenagers in order to raise the amount of political participation(Shin). Once the results came trickling in, there seemed to still be an exceedingly low rate for voter turnouts. Montgomery teenagers were simply granted the right, and proved to the county there was no point in doing so since there was little participation from their age group. Not to mention that majority of the sampled teenagers would not take the initiative to register to vote, and even though the county had registration at the Motor Vehicle Registration there is a point that not every teeanger is able to drive legally. Thus, that extra step to increase voter registration amongst teenagers was not beneficial. Giving us the right to vote comes at a cost, and it seems

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.

Now why does this kind of age discrimination affect voter turnout among young people? In the first place, it is clear that a sense of disenfranchisement with the political system develops when citizens cannot identify with their representatives. Part of the reason why white people over 45 vote more often is that most candidates for political office are white and over 45. Idealistic political philosophy often maintains that any citizen ought to be able to

In Margaret Adsett’s article on young voters in Canada, she discusses the growing problem of low youth involvement in politics. In the paper, she tries to explain why the number of young voters has gone down from 70 per cent to 40 per cent between 1970 and 2000.

In the article “Takoma Park 16-year-old Savors his History-Making Moment at the Polls,” written by Annys Shin, the author focuses on whether or not lowering the voting age from 18 is a good idea towards politics, by looking at the benefits and the disadvantages of both sides. In 2013, the city of Takoma Park was the first to lower the voting age to 16 and change the 26th Amendment in their municipal. Ben Miller and other 16- and 17-year-olds were capable of stepping into a booth and casting their vote at the Takoma Park Community Center. Allowing this age group to cast a vote will lead more teenagers to vote than their older peers, it will get them into the habit of voting for the rest of their lives, and it will also increase their personal

Like Rob Richie, who is a director of the national reform organization and a fellow takoma park resident, which was interviewed by Shin. He talked about how eighteen years olds “are not a very good first voting age group” because of the life change that happens when they leave their homes. Also the teens who are more educated on politics and the way it works most likely come from a “ Politically active home” and are already following a “Well represented group”(Shin). Allowing them to think teens are unable to make their own decisions on their own because of their families being a big

Annys Shins in the article “Takoma Park 16-year-old savors his history making moment at the polls” talks about a valuable privilege that was given to 350 teenagers between the ages of 16-17 of Takoma city the privilege cast their vote in the cities first effort to have teens become more politically involved.Takoma city is the first city in the nation to lower the voting age from 18 to 16 and they are excited to see the turn out. Ben Miller is one of the 350 teenagers who was giving the opportunity to vote and he states, “ He is excited of the opportunity. The turnout is so low, even a small amount can make a difference.” Although not everyone on Takoma city’s council supported the change many teens in Takoma are excited to be the first

The main point according Martin P. Wattenberg in Is Voting For Young People is that young people today do not vote during elections as much compared to other voting groups. Young people today are politically unengaged. “These state patterns of voting participation can be confirmed on the national level by the Census Bureau’s 2010 survey data. Among U.S. citizens under the age of 30 in 2010, only 24 percent reported that they voted.” (Page-188, IVYP) The low attendance of young people voting in Presidential elections indicates that young people do not care enough about politics to participate.

In the last federal election only 43 per cent of people under age 34 cast ballots, compared to 65 per cent of older voters. If social media isn’t getting young voters than the question continues of what will. Many do believe it is the schools system that didn’t encourage political movement throughout early childhood. In addition it has been proven that if something is not nurtured at a young age, the chances of it ever being put into action is doubted. Many of the families whose parents voted, the children followed and their children. Therefore, creating a clear pattern if young people didn’t start early the likely hood of them ever starting depends on their demand for change. “It used to be that researchers expected that, as young people got older, they would show up in higher numbers at the ballot box — but the ‘Life Cycle Effect’, as it’s been called, looks like it’s starting to fade. The voters that are not showing up now are not likely to show up later, either. That has dire implications for our

The opponents of this campaign argue that these teenagers are not old enough to vote and they will not make informed decisions. Counter augments follow that lowering

Hypothesis 2: Young voters are least likely to vote when compared with their older counterparts.

“Young people are interested in politics, and do have faith in the democratic process. Nonetheless, the political system and the established parties and politicians that dominate it, are together failing to

Throughout the history of America young people have always played a crucial role in politics. The famous writer Srirangam Srinivas wrote, “Our country is not in the hands of lazy and corrupted old politicians, this country is ours i.e. youth”. Young people between the ages 18 to 25 are the future of this country and its political system. The young people of America have a responsibility to be involved with politics and with their civic duties. The youth in America must be involved in politics to ensure that America stays a country of freedom, and to combat the corruption in politics, they must also be involved with their civic duties in order to give back to their country and to leave a legacy of political and civic participation