It is an obvious fact that teens in today’s world are much more involved in politics than they were 20 years ago. More information through social media has influenced teens and helped them to form their political opinions.
A 16-year-old in 2020 will be 20 when the next election rolls around. That means they will live two years of their adult life without having any say in what president is chosen during the election.
With this being the case, I feel that 16-year-olds should be allowed to vote for the president that they will be entering their adult lives with.
It’s even worse for 17-year-olds because if they’re 17 when the election rolls around they will end up spending the first three years of their adult lives with a president about whom they had no say. Yes, teens are allowed to promote and speak their opinions on presidential candidates but you have no idea how many times I’ve heard “you can’t even vote” when I talk about my political views. Plus, every vote counts!
Something that could come into play is, if voting ages were lowered, 16-year-olds would have to pass a test or evaluation proving that they know what’s going on in the government or maybe they would have to pass a government class in high school. A lot of the people I’ve talked to about this proposition believe that 16-year-olds should have the right to vote but they also know there are some uneducated or immature 16-year-olds. If more teenagers were allowed to vote, perhaps they would take more interest in the process and become more informed.
According to Hannah Grabenstein in “Should 16-year-olds be allowed to vote?” on PBS News Hour, three cities in Maryland and one in California changed their local voting age to 16 for school board elections only. It’s not a huge movement but it’s a start that I think means a lot for the youths’ future.