Millions of Americans won't be voting this year. It's not because they're dissatisfied with their choices. They want to vote but can't! Most work and pay taxes but have no say in the government that makes decisions affecting everything from the economy to healthcare to education to war. Who are these Americans?
Sixteen and Seventeen year-olds who are denied the vote that they so desperately need. But these teens aren't just complaining about their lack of suffrage, they are fighting to gain that precious right!
High school students with the National Youth Rights Association (NYRA) of Southeast Florida produced the first television commercial demanding a lower voting age, which aired on Washington DC cable in 2008.
Florida television news covered their efforts here
Other teens are working just hard (below the fold).
In New York State, another NYRA chapter pushed for the voting age to be lowered to 15.
And it's not just in America.
Students are right now leading efforts to lower the voting age in Australia
and the UK to Ireland
.
Why Lower the voting age? There are many strong arguments.
1. Most 16 year olds work and pay taxes, but with no say at all in how their tax money is spent.
2. Teens will be most affected by issues like education and environment, but have no voice that counts.
3. 16 is a BETTER age to start voting than 18. 16 year olds are more tied to their communities (they are more likely to live at home with their parents). Many 18 year olds are moving to brand new communities to which they have no ties and feel less of a vested interest.
4. 16 year olds can put the government and politics courses they are learning into action, making such coursework more effective and increasing their interest in voting.
5. Even the government agrees that 16 year olds are presumed to have enough knowledge to vote. In fact the voting rights act of 1965 that anyone with a 6th grade education is presumed to have the "literacy, comprehension, and intelligence to vote in any election." 42 U.S.C. 1971 (c). If a 6th grade education is enough, which shouldn't high schoolers who have completed 9th or 10th grade be able to cast a ballot?
For more points on lowering the voting age, please see NYRA's talking points at http://www.youthrights.org/...
Other countries are getting into the act. Brazil allowed 16 year olds to vote since 1988, and in 2007 Austria became the firsy EU country to do so. The UK is considering it now, after several of its semi-independent protectorates (Isle of Man, Guernsey and Jersey) have already done so.
So who supports a lower voting age? While it hasn't hit the mainstream media news in the United States (unlike in the UK), a growing number of political leaders and activists are supportive of a lower voting age. In the U.S., Congressman Dennis Kucinich, former Congressman and Independent Presidential candidate John Anderson, and Michael Moore have argued for a lower voting age.
In the UK,former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and current
deputy Prime Minister (and Liberal Democratic Party Leader Nick Clegg) support lowering the voting age to 16.
But it's not about the big name supporters. It's about young people getting involved, working for the civil rights that the country now denies them.
I encourage Kossacks to visit the National Youth Rights Association web site at http://www.youthights.org and learn about the growing youth rights movement and efforts to lower the voting age nationwide.