Currently the voting age is 18...but many people (including myself) think that it should be lowered to 16.  What do you think? And why?
202121
I see not problem with lowering the voting age, especially to 16 year olds.\nThe Bush administration is creating trillions of dollars in debt that will be paid for by future generations -- today's children. Perhaps if politicians had to worry about kids voting, they might be more responsible about piling up huge debts for the next generation.
515603
I think it should be raised to 21. Or it should not be given to anyone who breaks the law or has ever been a citizen of a foreign country.
443513
No. If  they're not old enough to vote for who runs this circus for the next 4 years they shouldn't be allowed to make a decision about something as important as the rest of their lives.  For Christ's sake, at 16 they've only been speaking in complete sentences for about 8 years, (if they even can) and they are just beginning to learn why they have body hair. They are so overrun by hormones that they are more concerned about what to wear to the mall than attending college and making a life for themselves.
428007
Like, oh my gah, I can't stand ugly old men...If they are ugly enough I don't listen to what they say, I mean, like, what could they possibly know?!\n\nNow I remember why the voting age is 18...vote the issues NOT the aesthetics.  Grow up.\n\nRemember Abe Lincoln wasn't exactly a Brad Pitt....
463896
Well first of all, I think it needs to be easier for people to find more unbiased info about the candidates and anything else on the ballot. Now the way for people to get this information should be publicized a good deal so that it will be well known and trusted.\n\nFor young voters, many issues important to them are often not addressed due to the high turnout of older voters. Perhaps by promoting group gatherings for young people who are old enough to vote at places they frequently go to, they could be encouraged to register and to address and discuss issues important to them.\n\nAfter all of this is achieved, the next step is to push these issues to candidates running for election, along with those still in office. Once they are pushed enough to be key issues in a campaign and those in office actually do something to address them, I think more young people would be encouraged by knowing that their votes and accomplishing what they believe is important would made a difference.\n\nMaking it mandatory and making it a crime to not vote would be a bad idea. It should be something we choose to do. Otherwise the right to vote would not mean as much. It should be something we  have the freedom to decide to do or not.\n\nEDIT: They do have mail-in ballots. They are called absentee ballots for those that can not go to the polls on election day. However, you must be eligible to receive one.\n\nFor more info on them go to the site below:\n\nhttp://www.fvap.gov/pubs/onlinefwab.html
377538
Our founders felt that a certain amount of maturity was needed. There are also minimum ages for House of Representatives & Senate. Many statews have minimum ages for various offices for the same reason.\nI wouldn't be comfortable with a 25 yr old president.
438911
YES!  I know 14-year-olds who are much more politically informed that most adults.  Kids who don't care about politics would tend not to vote, just like adults who don't care.  And those who do are just as capable of making decisions as many adults.\n\nA while ago, I came across someone on Answers who proudly informed us that she'd voted for Bush in 2004 and would be voting for him again in 2008.  She was genuinely surprised to learn he was already on his 2nd term and couldn't run again.  Clearly there are plenty of uninformed voters out there already.\n\nThe "adult" voter population elected Bush.  Twice.  At a few weeks shy of 14 years old, it was already obvious to me that Bush was not going to make a good president.  Six years later, he ended up with approval ratings that rivaled those of Nixon, right before he resigned.\n\nIf 16-year-olds are old enough to drive, they should certainly be old enough to vote.  Cars are a fair bit more dangerous than ballots.\n\nThe younger kids are allowed to do something that most people don't inherently find exciting, the more likely they'll be excited to be old enough to do it.  If kids can start voting younger, they're more likely to start voting, ultimately resulting in increased voter turn out and civic participation.\n\nIf the voting age were lowered to 16, what's the worst that could happen?  We elect a lying idiot with an affinity for starting wars he can't win, who thinks he can finance that war with tax cuts for the rich, and has made every effort to set civil rights back 100 years?  Oh wait, we already did that.
41651
Hey, you can vote, you can die for your country, but you can't buy a drink. I'd prefer leaving the voting and drinking as is and get rid of the part that allows an 18 year old to die for his country in war.
380386
i think 21 is a good age but for our men and women fighting for our country under 21 they should be allowed since the are fighting to stay alive for us if they are old enough to die for our country they are old enough to drink
233332
The age of majority is, for all intents and purposes, 18 in every state except Alabama and Nebraska, where it is 19. There are a few legal rights that most states withhold until 21, but legal majority, including the right to vote, to enter into contracts, to leave their parents' home, to do just about anything, occurs at 18 or 19 everywhere in the country.
420830
African-Americans \nThe Fifteenth Amendment to the U. S. Constitution, ratified March 30, 1870, provided that all male citizens were entitled to vote.\n\nWomen in 1926 on August 26th the right to vote was signed into law by the Secretary of State Bainbridge Colby \n\nEighteen year olds\nA third voting rights movement was the movement in the 1960s to require the voting age to be lowered to eighteen from twenty-one. This movement was given far greater impetus by the Vietnam War, as it was noted that most of the young men who were being drafted to fight in it were too young to have any voice in the selection of the leaders who were sending them to fight. This, too, had previously been a state issue, as several states, notably Georgia, Kentucky, and Hawaii, had already allowed voting at a younger age than twenty-one. The Twenty-sixth Amendment required all states to set their voting age at no higher than eighteen (as of 2006 no state has opted for an earlier age, although some have discussed it).
650391
It's a good point, but....\nI guess the Dept. of Labor sees working before 18 as a privelege,\nnot a right or a necessity. In exchange for permitting you to earn what they THINK is your own money, they require you to pay tax on it. I think you're right though, they should'nt tax you if you can't vote, but look at it like this: the tax you pay benefits you somewhat. Don't you get to drive on the roads? Aren't you entitled to police service/protection? Know anyone who goes to a public school? All these things are paid for with tax dollars.
342446
Personally I think below 13 is kind of too young.
229849
I say 18 if you ask me, yeah its still young i guess, but by that time, you should be finishing up H.S and have lived under parents law long enough. Just like you said, you can go fight wars and vote, thats a big responsibility right there. If you old enough to (die) and old enough to vote. then I think the legal age should be 18.. As far as drinking, let be real, if someone under age wants to drink they can get liq, its not that hard..
199013
I think that some young people do not want to vote because they find voting being meaningless but yet, they are the ones who complain a lot about the government. I believe that if you do not vote, DO NOT Complain on what is happening where you live.
457721
Yes I did...First time ever. I'm 33. I figure it was my one vote that failed to keep george bush out of office so I feel more responsible this time around to make sure I vote.\n\nEveryone that complains about bush are the ones that don't vote. So now if I don't like the new person atleast I have the right to complain or agree since I legally put my vote in.\n\nEveryone should vote! Its your life and the life of your kids! Vote and have a say!
28656
Well, I have an excuse, seeing as I was 17 in 2004, which is too young to vote, unfortunately.\n\nBut just because you're too young, or aren't a citizen, or couldn't register for some reason, doesn't mean that you can't/shouldn't complain & discuss politics.