Voting+for+16+year+olds

1) Youth Suffer Under A Double Standard
If a 16 year old can be charged with an adult criminal offense, charged taxes, and is legal to drive, then it is simply not fair that they do not get to vote for their rights on becoming and adult. They are capable of most things, so why not let them have the responsibility to vote?

2) Youth pay taxes and live under Adult laws
Like all law-abiding tax contributing citizens, the youth should be allowed to vote.

3) If youth vote, politicians will represent their interests
This will make politicians and parliament members respect the votes of younger kids more. It will show and prove how much they really know about it.

4) Youth bring a unique perspective to politics
Voters vote based on their individual circumstances. The concerns of a 16-year-old are different than those of a 24-year-old, just as the concerns of a poor man differ from those of a rich man.

5) Sixteen is a better age to begin voting than 18
16 years old is a better age to vote because when someone is 18, they have bigger priorities. 16 is a perfect age because children are very familiar and are still at home in the same surrounding they were in since they were a young child.

6) Lowering the voting age will increase voter turnout
This will make the population of voters larger and give a clearer vote.

7) We let stupid adults vote. Why not smart youth
If an adult is not that clever, he/she still has the right to vote, some 16 year olds are equally as smart as a good number of adults. Meaning, 16 year olds should be allowed to vote.

8) Youth will vote well
The 16 year olds will most likely take after their parents, in similar ways of voting. Also they well get to learn more about politics a lot sooner and use it as an advantage for their on-coming life.

9) There are no wrong votes
There is no such thing as a wrong vote, so why should not kids of middle age (16) be able to vote as well?

10) Lowering the voting age will provide an intrinsic benefit to the lives of young people
It will boost confident levels and make them more responsible and to notice that this is not taken as a joke, but taken as an extremely serious case.
 * || ** Arguments ** ||


 * == Pros == || == Cons == ||
 * At 16 a person can get married and have children. If we allow them this responsibility, we should also recognise that they are mature enough to vote. || || Many of our minimum ages occur at different times. For example you can have sex at 16, but you cannot drink until you are 18. Should we give the vote to people who we do not recognise as mature enough to drink or to see The Blair Witch Project? ||
 * One of the important original reasons behind democracy was "no taxation without representation". At 16 you can get a job and pay taxes and it is undemocratic that you have no say in who sets those taxes. Areas such as the minimum wage and benefits also affect you directly and you should have a say in these policies. || || Policies on nursery education affect 4-year-olds, but it does mean that we give them a vote! We must trust mature adults to vote on the behalf of children. ||
 * In today’s society 16-year-olds are more mature than ever before and there is no significant gap between an 18-year-old and a 16-year-old’s ability to vote; the distinction is arbitrary. || || That the fact that more young people are smoking, drinking and having sex earlier than before does not mean that they are more mature. 16-year-olds are still children mentally and much development happens in the next two years. If anything, the voting age should be increased to 21 to ensure full maturity. ||
 * Within limitations, the wider pool of voters we have, the better it is for democracy, as it increases representation. || || It is sentimental to argue that everyone should have the vote. With this argument, why not 14-year-olds? The fact is that you must have limits and while some 16-year-olds probably are mature enough to vote, the status quo protects against the majority who are not. ||
 * Many 18-year-olds do not make informed decisions. In fact many 40-year-olds do not make informed decisions and this does not mean we deny them their rights to vote. || || Most 16-year-olds would either vote the way their parents voted, or deliberately vote the other way to be rebellious. They would not consider all the issues and make an informed decision. ||
 * In today’s society 16-year-olds are more mature than ever before and there is no significant gap between an 18-year-old and a 16-year-old’s ability to vote; the distinction is arbitrary. || || That the fact that more young people are smoking, drinking and having sex earlier than before does not mean that they are more mature. 16-year-olds are still children mentally and much development happens in the next two years. If anything, the voting age should be increased to 21 to ensure full maturity. ||
 * Within limitations, the wider pool of voters we have, the better it is for democracy, as it increases representation. || || It is sentimental to argue that everyone should have the vote. With this argument, why not 14-year-olds? The fact is that you must have limits and while some 16-year-olds probably are mature enough to vote, the status quo protects against the majority who are not. ||
 * Many 18-year-olds do not make informed decisions. In fact many 40-year-olds do not make informed decisions and this does not mean we deny them their rights to vote. || || Most 16-year-olds would either vote the way their parents voted, or deliberately vote the other way to be rebellious. They would not consider all the issues and make an informed decision. ||
 * Many 18-year-olds do not make informed decisions. In fact many 40-year-olds do not make informed decisions and this does not mean we deny them their rights to vote. || || Most 16-year-olds would either vote the way their parents voted, or deliberately vote the other way to be rebellious. They would not consider all the issues and make an informed decision. ||
 * Many 18-year-olds do not make informed decisions. In fact many 40-year-olds do not make informed decisions and this does not mean we deny them their rights to vote. || || Most 16-year-olds would either vote the way their parents voted, or deliberately vote the other way to be rebellious. They would not consider all the issues and make an informed decision. ||