Should the age to vote be reduced to 16?

I am 16. I don't understand basic governmental functions. I don't claim to. None of my peers do. 18 is acceptable. Waiting two years to vote isn't a huge deal, you're being angsty about it.

In fact, I would prefer if there was a requirement test to take in order to vote, maybe that and raising the voting age to 21.

 

A two year wait isn't very long, let them wait it out. You're only a kid once, don't get involved with politics to early, just enjoy what you have left of your teen years and let the adults handle these situations.

 

Here's my views If you pay income tax you should be able to vote because that means you are contiributing to the government "Not your parents" thats why I said income tax! If you are paying into a pool you should help decide how it gets spent period!

 

I'm not sure why people keep saying 16 year olds not understanding it as a big problem.

Let's say the Government wanted to build a Nuclear power plant in your neighborhood. Them being the 'nice guys' decide to hold a meeting with the townspeople. However, before being allowed to vote whether or not this Nuclear power plant gets passed, you would have to understand how Nuclear fusion works, what radiation is, how a nuclear power plant works, and so on.

Does this sound reasonable to you?

Pushing it forwards two years isn't a big deal either.

I'll talk about this in the thread you've created.

You don't need to get into politics to vote.

If someone filed income taxes, and contributed to their country, you would not grant them the right to vote?

Some adults don't pay income tax, what about them? Do we not grant them rights to vote?

 

A requirement test would be the best way to determine if one could vote or not.

 

What questions would this test contain?

 

Could be something based on something with democracy like how it works/ its policies.

OT: I don't think 16 is really an appropriate age, however its not like our votes even decide who becomes president so, its whatever I guess.

 

I see.

So, if the Government decided to build a nuclear power plant in your neighborhood, and asked all the people in your neighborhood to vote on whether the power plant should be situated in your area, do you think it would be fair for them to require you to take a test with the contents of how specifically a nuclear power plant works, how radiation affects us etc. Or, would you go, screw that, It's my neighborhood too, and I should get a say on what goes on around here; It's my country too, and I should get a say on what goes on around here.

They do... It's just your vote is seemingly not likely to make a difference.

 

What could we possibly gain from reducing the voting age to 16? All we would get is more uneducated teenagers voting for whoever their parents voted for.

 

You would get a better demographical spread of votes.

 

I'm 18 now, I still don't like voting, I don't think the majority of 16 year olds would want to vote. When I was 16 I couldn't care less who was in government, matter of fact I still don't.

 

Whether they care or not shouldn't be a contributing factor to whether they have the right to vote.

 

I don't think it matters of age as much as the fact that 18 years old is the age one is currently considered an adult here. At age 16 people can not enter into a legal contract even.

Also, like someone earlier said, the votes don't (always) count as it is decided by the electoral college, although the electoral college is "usually" decided by the popular vote.

When will our stupid government do away with the electoral college? A lot of the reason it was started was for uneducated people as a majority to have an educated person in the final decision making, and because it was too difficult to accurately account for all popular votes, but now we have the majority education and the technology to accurately count the popular votes, except for Florida.

Also, so that you know, here a lot of it is decided by the states. In USA, 19 states allow 17 year olds to vote in primary elections if they will be 18 by election day. A lot of states are currently working on lowering the voting age to 17 for non-federal votes as the federal government would have to pass the law to lower the age in federal votes.

One of the reasons I feel that 17 year olds (maybe 16 year olds) should be given some kind of a say is a president is in office for 4 years. If a president is voted in when someone is 16, that president will not be out until the earliest of that person being 20. That means he will have two adult years where he had no say in his representation.

Some countries allow 16 to 18 year olds to vote if employed, this is kind of an interesting idea.

EDIT: I just realized you live in AUS, the above was mostly in reference to USA, as I do not know AUS situation or laws or anything really.

 

18 is the age of adulthood in Australia to. Also, you can enter into a legal contract as a minor, however, you are not bound by it as adults are. It can be waived rather easily.

I'm not really sure how the American system works. In Australia, it's mandatory for all citizens aged 18 or above to vote. If you don't you get fined, I think. With that being said, I think it seems reasonable to allow one to vote if they contribute via filing taxable income. This is because they are contributing directly to their country, and it only seems fair that they get to help choose who helps run their country.

 

Some countries, I forget what, I wana say Brazil but don't quote me on it, allow 16-18 year olds to optionally vote while mandating 18+ to vote.

In USA, voting at any legal voting age is optional.

That is the same debate that the American colonies used when attempting to break away from England. No taxation without representation. Well, it is sort of the same thing, they didn't feel it right that they had to pay taxes when they were not allowed to have a say in the government to whom they pay those taxes.

 

No. Speaking from personal experience, at age 16, politics were not of any concern to me. None of the people around me seemed to show any interest in it either. I know that the mindset between 16 > 18 really doesn't change a whole lot, but that doesn't mean that the age should be lowered in my opinion. When you're 18, generally, you start to realize that you're grown up for the most part. It's when people either go on to college or get a job, usually. Your life tends to shift directions quite a bit at around that age. You actually have to worry about a lot more things directly related to politics. While there may be some 16 year olds capable of making an informed decision about who they truly believe is the better presidential candidate, they are a minority. Every 16 year old I have ever personally met while at school, their life has been pretty much dominated by pop-culture. That's not something you want to drive decisions such as who should be the president.

The argument that a 16 year old has to pay taxes really doesn't work for this situation. Your tax dollars don't reflect your personality or maturity level. Gay people pay taxes, yet can't get married.

 

Why does being grown up and experienced give you the right to vote? What about the numerous people who remain of age yet haven't grown up nor gained experience?

That's why it is slowly being lobbied for, and passed through.

Tax dollars represent your contribution to the country, specifically, they are a percentage of your taxable income. The Government then uses your money in an attempts to better the country.

 

Because voting is an important process and most 16 year olds do not have the maturity and brain development, etc to make informed decisions for the best. They're more likely to vote for "that hot girl" than for something that will benefit them (or others) in 20 years.

 

There is no specific maturation required in order to vote. Some people mature quicker than others. Also, sometimes 16 year olds can make better rational decisions than 20 year olds, and vice versa. Isn't the point of an election to see who the population wants as leader? Given that 16 year olds contribute to the country, why relinquish their rights to vote? If voting was based on maturity and brain development, then how would they test to see meets the minimum threshold?

 

Stay 18..At 16 I couldn't give a fuck bcos all PM's do is lie..I still don't care who wins they're all just liars