Retchless 1

Paxton Retchless

Mr. Ventura

ENG 1530

9 November 2020

Mapping Perspectives

Fifty years ago, eighteen-year olds fought for and earned the right to vote. Now, sixteen-

year olds are trying to do the same. The topic of lowering the voting age to sixteen is a

controversial one where people take many different stances on the issue. The younger people and

older people tend to have opinions on opposite sides of the argument, while some people meet in

the middle of the spectrum. Currently, lowering the voting age to sixteen has very little support,

but people who believe in lowering it are fighting to change some of the opposer’s opinions and

stances. Each stance on the issue has certain reasoning behind it and certain places, people, or

organizations that support it. In order to understand the different stances of the issue and the

issue itself, the background and history of the issue is important to know as well. Certain current

and previous events have sparked the interest in sixteen-year olds voting, but the fight is only

just beginning.

The issue at hand is 16-year olds want the right to vote. They want to have a say in the

government and the policies that affect them. The article, “16-Year-Olds Want a Vote. Fifty

Years Ago, So Did 18-Year-Olds,” explains the background of the issue well. The interest of 16-

year olds wanting the right to vote started with current issues that affect them. For example, gun

violence, climate change, and student debt. Especially since multiple school shootings have

happened over the years, gun violence is very personal to them. Since these issues affect them

directly, they want to have a say in the government and their policies. The fight to lowering the
 Retchless 2

voting age also grew after Takoma Park, Maryland allowed sixteen and seventeen-year olds to

vote in municipal elections. The fight fifty years ago was centered in colleges, but now the

activism is in high schools. In March, Representative Ayanna Presley of Massachusetts proposed

an amendment allowing 16-year olds the right to vote to the House of Representatives, but the

amendment failed 126 to 305. Since the issue does not have a lot of support and no amendment

has been passed, the fight is still ongoing.

One stance on the issue of sixteen-year olds voting, and the most common one, is to not

lower the age because sixteen-year olds just are not ready yet. The article, “Don’t Rock the Vote:

Why the voting age is plenty low enough already,” provides reasoning for this argument. The

writer, David Davenport, explains how society keeps increasing the age of responsibilities, not

lowering it. Civic tests are also showing that younger voters are not very knowledgeable in the

area. On previous civic tests, only twenty-three percent of the younger voters scored proficient or

above (Davenport). As expressed in the article, "'16 is far too young' England urged NOT to

reduce voting age to 16; EXPRESS.CO.UK readers have voiced their opinions on whether

England should follow Wales and reduce the voting age to 16,” some people believe sixteen is

too young and most sixteen-year olds only think about themselves (Brown). Others argue that

sixteen-year olds “are not even trusted to get a mortgage or borrow money without a guarantor”

(Brown). Most people are in agreeance that sixteen-year olds are not ready to vote yet and the

voting age should stay the same.

A different stance people take on the issue of lowering the voting age is that sixteen-year

olds are ready to vote. Also in the article, “16-Year-Olds Want a Vote. Fifty Years Ago, So Did

18-Year-Olds,” the reasoning for lowering the voting age is “between climate change, gun

violence, student debt and other issues, they do have enough skin in the game,” and “16 is when
 Retchless 3

Americans can, in most states, work without a limit on their hours and drive” (Astor). The

article, “Why Should We Lower the Voting Age to 16?,” agrees that sixteen-year olds are ready

to vote. Similar to the reasoning of the previous article, this article says, “At age 16, citizens can

drive, pay taxes, and for the first time work without any restriction on hours” (FairVote.org). The

argument people make for lowering the voting age because sixteen-year olds are ready to is that

they already perform some adult responsibilities, such as driving, working and paying taxes.

Also, the issues of climate change, gun violence and student debt have exposed them to the real

world and serious issues. As mentioned before, Representative Ayanna Presley of Massachusetts

proposed an amendment to lower the voting age to sixteen. Representative Presley is a major

representative for this stance and she could prove to be very beneficial for the lowering of the

voting age.

Another stance people take is that the voting age should be lowered, but with an increase

of civic education in schools. A study was done in Austria and the Norwegians to determine

whether lowering the voting age would be beneficial or not. The article, “Voting at 16? Youth

suffrage is up for debate,” explains this study. The two areas had differing results. In Austria,

lowering the voting age proved to be beneficial, but in the Norwegians, lowering the voting age

was not beneficial. The main difference was that Austria modified its education system to

increase civic knowledge while the Norwegians did not (Zeglovits). This information suggests

that with the addition of civic education in school curriculums, the voting age should be lowered.

Austria is a major player for this stance of the argument. Research has specifically shown that

the addition of civic education in their schools helped make lowering the voting age beneficial.

Another stance people take on the issue is that the voting age should be lowered to

sixteen because the voting turnout will increase for people of all ages. Research shows that a
 Retchless 4

“trickle up” effect could occur if sixteen and seventeen-year olds are allowed to vote. The sixteen

and seventeen-year olds could bring the topic of voting into the home, which could then

encourage older people in their homes to participate in civic activities as well (Fairvote.org).

Another reason a lower voting age would increase voter turnout is that many college students are

not voting, but they might if they started voting at a younger age. The believed reason college

students are not voting is because they are apathetic towards voting. At sixteen, kids are less

likely to be apathetic towards voting already, and if they started voting at sixteen, they would be

more likely to continue voting in the future (Mandell). A lower voting age could help increase

overall voter turnout for people of all ages. A major representative for this stance is House

Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Pelosi believes people should be able to vote while they are engaged in

politics by learning about the topic in high school, and that the voter turnout could benefit from a

lower voting age.

The last stance people take on the issue is that the voting age should not be lowered

because the democratic party will largely benefit. These people believe that since sixteen-year

olds are more likely to vote for the left, some people only want the change in order to favor their

party (Brown). Since much of the sixteen and seventeen-year olds today lean liberally, some

Republicans believe lowering the voting age is a ploy to add democrats to the electorate (Astor).

These people also believe that even though reasoning may show the voting age should not be

lowered, democrats will still support the issue as a political motive (Davenport). Republicans are

a huge representative for this stance. The Republicans argue against lowering the voting age

because much of Generation Z will vote democratically. Lowering the voting age could severely

hurt their party, but largely benefit their opposing party.

 Retchless 5

Although multiple stances about the issue of lowering the voting age are evident, the

stances have some similarities and differences. For example, three of the stances are in favor of

lowering the voting age. The difference is that they want to lower the voting age for different

reasons. One reason is because sixteen-year olds are ready to vote. Another reason is that

sixteen-year olds voting could be beneficial if they are taught about civics in schools. The last

reason is that lowering the voting age could increase voter turnout for people of all ages. The two

stances against lowering the voting age are similar in that they do not want to lower the voting

age, but also different in their reasonings. One stance believes sixteen-year olds just are not

ready to vote yet, while the other stance fears a large benefit for democrats that could hurt

republicans. I believe a possible combination of some of the stances could provide a reasonable

solution to the issue.

Current issues that affect sixteen-year olds have caused them to fight for a right to vote.

Although some sixteen-year olds strongly desire the right to vote, many people have different

stances and opinions on the issue. Some stances strongly support the lowering of the voting age,

but other stances strongly oppose its lowering. Each stance has solid reasoning to support their

arguments, but an eventual solution may only support one stance, or maybe even a combination

of stances. A final answer whether or not the voting age will be lowered has not been provided,

but many sixteen-year olds around the nation keep hoping and fighting.
 Retchless 6

Works Cited

Astor, Maggie. “16-Year-Olds Want a Vote. Fifty Years Ago, So Did 18-Year-Olds.” The New

York Times, 19 May 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/05/19/us/politics/voting-age.html.

Brown, Steven. "'16 is far too young' England urged NOT to reduce voting age to 16;

EXPRESS.CO.UK readers have voiced their opinions on whether England should follow

Wales and reduce the voting age to 16." Express Online, June 2, 2020. advance-lexis-

com.jsrvproxy1.sunyjcc.edu/api/document?collection=news&id=urn:contentItem:6020-

F861-JCJY-G2FR-00000-00&context=1516831. Accessed 10 Nov. 2020.

Davenport, David. "Don't Rock the Vote: Why the voting age is plenty low enough

already." Hoover Digest, no. 1, 2019, p. 82+. Gale Academic

OneFile, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A613204356/AONE?

u=sunyjcc&sid=AONE&xid=c97125eb. Accessed 10 Nov. 2020.

FairVote.org. “Why Should We Lower the Voting Age to 16?” FairVote,

www.fairvote.org/why_should_we_lower_the_voting_age_to_16.

Mandell, Keith. "Lowering the Voting Age Will Increase Voter Turnout." Greenhaven Press,

2008. Gale In Context: Opposing

Viewpoints, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/EJ3010525207/OVIC?

u=sunyjcc&sid=OVIC&xid=7983f720. Accessed 10 Nov. 2020.

Zeglovits, Eva. "Voting at 16? Youth Suffrage is Up for Debate." European View, vol. 12, no. 2,

2013, pp. 249-254. ProQuest, https://search-proquest-

com.jsrvproxy1.sunyjcc.edu/docview/1467021883?accountid=39896,

doi:http://dx.doi.org.jsrvproxy1.sunyjcc.edu/10.1007/s12290-013-0273-3. Accessed 10

Nov. 2020.