The paper slips into the box as another voter steps into the booth. Voters wait in line to cast their votes to see who will help make the community better.
Its that time of year again, voting season, in Durham County North Carolina on November 6, 2018. Adults went out and voted for who is going to make decisions for the future of Durham. The only problem is, not everyone who is affected by those decisions are allowed to vote. All the laws that the Durham Politicians makes not only affects the adults but also greatly affects the student population which is % of the durham population which is currently at 267,743 mainly in high school.
“I think students who are enrolled in high school and have taken Civics and or American History with a passing grade should be aloud to vote regardless of the age,” Michael Neece commented.
Neece now has three kids, one who is a Sophomore in high school, who he thinks should be allowed to vote. He say kids who aren't in high school yet should not be aloud to vote, because they don't know most the information behind Durham Country's history.
“Sometimes kids have a better view than adults, but they are also more vulnerable and may be easily influenced by their parents views,” Chelsea Norman Scott, Freshman at Carolina Friends, asserted.
Chelsea thinks that while kids provide a fresh and new viewpoint, they are sometimes not ready for the voting process. She thinks a good voting age would be 16, when the student is aloud to drive.
“Young people might just vote the way their parents tell them to — but traditionally, the party of your parents has always been the strongest indicator of your voting habits. We don’t seem to mind when voters take cues from their parents once they’re 18, so why do we object when they’re younger? Children voting like their parents doesn’t violate one-person, one vote, it validates it. A child is a person, too,” The Washington Post noted.
The Washington Post talked about how throughout history Durham Country has prohibited many groups from voting like women and people of color, Those groups prevailed and it's no different for kids. They also talked about how some may say that adults are protecting children from the voting process like they do for court trials or finances, but what are they actually protecting kids from, their opinion?
"I think that the age of 18 is a good age to be able to vote, because at 18 you have responsibilities and they have to think fully for themselves, which allows them to make and develop their own decisions,” Ella Bartlett voiced.
Bartlett is a freshman here at DSA, thinks that the current age of 18 should be maintained because while she feels that she is ready to vote now, there are many kids who aren't informed on the candidates and legislation.
“Voting can seem like alot of pressure and it is. I think that most people need more time to mature and decide what kind of person they want to be and what choices they want to make before they move on to voting,” Ella Bartlett expressed.