Opinion

What if you could get your license and go vote on your 16th birthday here in the U.S.? This is a question that has recently been posed, as some countries, like England and Northern Ireland, have lowered  their voting age. While voting age around the world spans from 16 to 20, debates spark about whether young voices should be in the ballots, or if maturity should still set the limit. 

Recently, some parts of the U.K. have reduced their voting age to 16 to keep in line with Wales and Scotland who have had their voting age as 16 for years. The government in the U.K. is a constitutional monarchy and a parliamentary democracy. According to Northeastern Global News, some people are hesitant about the lowered voting age. Reporter Patrick Daly explains how 16 year olds are still unable to drive, smoke cigarettes, and drink alcohol, but they will be able to help choose the next Prime Minister. On the other hand, professor Gergana Dimova believes that the lowered voting age will raise turnout at elections and help build life-long habits of participating in elections. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer says that this recent change is about fairness because he believes if 16 year olds can work, pay taxes, and go to war, then they should undoubtedly be able to vote. The citizens of the U.K. seem to have many different opinions and feelings regarding the new voting age, but one thing that is constantly considered in Patrick Daly’s article is the idea that younger people will follow their peers' footsteps, meaning that if their friends and family are voting, they most likely will too. This will also affect who they vote for as they are the most susceptible to influence from online sources and their peers. As the U.K. lowers their voting age, a question of whether or not the U.S. will follow in their footsteps arises, according to NPR News. While some states in the U.S. already allow 17 year olds to vote in primary elections, the main concern of allowing 16 year olds to vote is their maturity. Back in 1971, the U.S. changed their voting age from 21 to 18 because of the Vietnam war and the magnitude of 18 year olds being drafted. Therefore, according to NPR’s article, the U.S. does not seem poised to follow the U.K.’s footsteps anytime soon. 

On the other hand Argentina, operating under a democratic government, has been experimenting with a younger voting age since 2012. They lowered the  voting age from 18 to 16. This seems to be a common theme in countries who are looking for more participation in their elections. According to an article from BBC in 2012, directly following the voting age adjustment, the change was most directly caused by the President at the time, Cristina Fernandez, and her desire for more participation in the election which would take place just a year later. According to a more recent article from Buenos Aires Times, the youth are said to be experiencing a time of electoral apathy, meaning that they have a lack of interest in voting. Additionally, the article states that the reasoning behind the electoral apathy in Argentina may be due to the fact that the younger voters have to familiarize themselves with the new government system more rapidly. So, are these 16 year olds mature enough for civic duty, or should they just wait a couple more years to mature? 

Greece struck a middle ground between voting at 16 and 18  with allowing 17 year olds to vote. 10 years ago, Greece lowered its voting age to 17. According to the European Youth Forum, Greece lowered their voting age to 17 because of the “sharpened democratic reflexes" that the youth will have by being involved in politics earlier. The Prime Minister at the time added that voting at 17 is a motivation for the youth to be politicized and have a chance to take their lives into their own hands. While 17 is slightly older, the maturity question remains. 

On the other end of the spectrum, Cameroon has one of the highest voting ages in the world at 20 years old.  Additionally, something that makes Cameroon stand out is that it is a unitary presidential republic, meaning that the president is both head of the state and the government. Furthermore, the voting age is 20 years old which is much higher than the majority of countries in the world and may be due to the fact that Cameroon has been ruled by an authoritarian president since 1982. Per reporter Emilia Miki in an article from 2016, the voting age in Cameroon is unfair as you can get married at age 15, go to war at age 18, but you cannot vote until age 20. Miki says that this is why she joined the NewSETA Vote 18 Campaign working to lower the voting age from 20 to 18 to get more of the youth involved in their democracy. As stated in the article, people are opposed to the idea of lowering the voting age because of the stereotype that the youth love an easy life and they are easily influenced by the media. While the voting age in Cameroon has been stagnant for years, 20 years old is much higher than most counties and it might spark disinterest when it comes to the time to vote for the adults. 

From my research, I believe that the voting age of 18 in the U.S. will not change, and should not change anytime soon. When turning 18 in the US, you are officially an adult and I think that the timing proves maturity and readiness to have a political voice in the polls. Although you can't vote until you are 18, being involved in politics is very important. While the argument of lowering the voting age supports involvement and builds life-long habits, these habits are built off of desire to have a voice in the world as well. Young people can still build these habits by knowing what is going on in the world, when they can vote, supporting their peers that can vote, and being excited to vote when the time comes. All of these things will help the youth prepare to vote and look forward to it, hopefully raising the participation of younger voters when the time comes.