15 and 16 year old high school students filmed what will be the first tv ad EVER in support of lowering the voting age to 16. The students are members of the National Youth Rights Association's ("NYRA") Southeast Florida chapter. NYRA is a youth-led, youth civil rights organization with over 8,000 members nationwide.
The students wrote and produced the ad, which is below. Check it out and then read more about efforts to lower the voting age, and vote in our poll. UPDATE 2: AND COMMENT ON THE AD PLEASE (is it effective?)
If you want to donate to the ad, just go to NYRA's web page at http://www.youthrights.org NYRA hopes to air the ad on Washington DC cable stations (CNN, MSNBC, MTV, VH1 and Comedy Central)
Why Lower the voting age? There are many strong arguments.
- Most 16 year olds work and pay taxes, but with no say at all in how their tax money is spent.
- Teens will be most effected by issues like education and environment, but have no voice that counts.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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. The UK's Liberal Democratic Party and the Scottish National Party already back a voting age of 16, while Prime Minister Gordon Brown will be appointing a commission to study the issue.
Finally, more and more American political leaders have come out in favor of a lower voting age, from Dennis Kucinich to former Presidential candidate John Anderson to film maker Michael Moore (see his recent blogger video at http://www.youtube.com/...
So everyone, keep an open mind on this issue and write some cool comments (and watch the ad!)
UPDATE FROM COMMENTS
It is disheartening to find so many progressives falling for anti-teen stereotypes and arguing that people should be denied voting rights simply because they are 16 rather than 18. The "maturity" argument is bogus. Many adult voting Americans are immature, voting for particular candidates for stupid, biased or ridiculous reasons. Yet we don't stop them from voting. 70% of adult Americans can't even name their OWN state's senators, yet we don't stop them from voting.
I ask all of you What is Democracy? It is a political system where the most "mature" and "knowledgeable" people rationally, and based on their considerable experience, select our leaders. I don't think so. If that was the requirement, the majority of the electorate would be excluded. No, it is about people (smart, ignorant, mature and immature) having a meaningful voice (even a voice to vote wrongly). 16 year olds deserve that right.