To what degree do you think young people or even other groups should be allowed to vote?

[AthenaC]

I think the voting age of 18 is appropriate. However, I think in order to receive one’s voter registration card, one needs to pass a basic civics and economics test. If we had that requirement, a lot of the issues from the 2008 election would have been mitigated. (Not eliminated, mind you - knowledgeable people can still have poor judgment.)

 

[Jeanne_S]

The voting age should be raised back to 21…you can’t have a beer yet…but you can decide the fate of a nation!?

I agree.However, If 18 year olds can go off to war and fight for our country’s liberties,they should be allowed to vote.

 

[GratefulFred]

I agree with MissRose73.

Most 18 year olds are high school graduates (but we do have national 25% drop out rate). All can sign legal contracts and some can and do risk their very lives defending Freedom. Surely they should have the right to vote.

But every Right carries with it Responsibility. EVERY voter, regardless of age, has a moral responsibility to know the issues and consequences and candidates as best they can. None of us know all that as well as we should, but we do have responsibility to learn as best we can.

I admire those who will not vote because they personally feel they do not know enough to decide. But I also challenge them to get with it quickly. That excuse can work one time but not twice.

I have distain for those who think themselves too lazy to bother. Go visit a veterans’ cemetary and speak your reason out loud to the grave stones of men and women who died for your freedom to be apathetic.

But I ask, how does ignorance and apathy come to be in the first place? Parents? Teachers? We reap what we sow.

I also think the right to vote comes with citizenship. We should be very sure only citizens vote.

 

[MissRose73]

I agree with MissRose73.

Most 18 year olds are high school graduates (but we do have national 25% drop out rate). All can sign legal contracts and some can and do risk their very lives defending Freedom. Surely they should have the right to vote.

But every Right carries with it Responsibility. EVERY voter, regardless of age, has a moral responsibility to know the issues and consequences and candidates as best they can. None of us know all that as well as we should, but we do have responsibility to learn as best we can.

I admire those who will not vote because they personally feel they do not know enough to decide. But I also challenge them to get with it quickly. That excuse can work one time but not twice.

I have distain for those who think themselves too lazy to bother. Go visit a veterans’ cemetary and speak your reason out loud to the grave stones of men and women who died for your freedom to be apathetic.

But I ask, how does ignorance and apathy come to be in the first place? Parents? Teachers? We reap what we sow.

I also think the right to vote comes with citizenship. We should be very sure only citizens vote.

I think both teachers and parents need to make sure children are learning valuable lessons in being a good citizen with more burden on the parents. I am glad I had a good foundation growing up and good examples.

My parents read the newspaper daily and watched the nightly news plus sometimes talk about things in mass media from time to time plus I took an interest in both as well. I know my parents talked about going to vote when I was growing up as well, and up to a certain age, had to go with them to the polling place but wait outside the booth while they voted.

In high school, in our Senior government class, we learned the basics of the 3 government branches. We also learned basic things about our responsibilities of being a good citizen like paying taxes and casting ballots to vote. Going to cast my first ballot in an election not long after finishing high school was a good experience too as I had registered to vote a few months before graduation to be able to do so.

 

[NightHawk2005]

Darn right I should be allowed to vote. I study the issues, I look at the candidates, I make an informed choice.

 

[AHapka]

Minor spelling issues can be ignored (is there any question what is intended if someone writes Obomba?) But you have to prove you cared enough to learn who was running by memorizing their names.

But there probably is someone named Obomba in this country, there’s the rub. How do you know what the person intended, then?

If you ever look at the full presidential election results, there really are a lot of names. People write in the name of a friend, Mickey Mouse, etc. And the municipal clerks have to tally these up and report them.

And if you are going to guess someone’s intent, who would have the final decision? Remember when it was a massive issue with guessing intent with hanging chads in the 2000 election? No, let’s not do that again…

 

[mackbrislawn]

This.

I don’t favour any specific restrictions per se. However, I would like children, while still in school, to be taught basic political philosophy. Currently In my country, future voters are only taught “VOTE OR GET FINED”.

I agree.

I don’t think people who have no opinion should vote just to be voting. If you have no opinion it is like throwing darts. Is that how we should conduct elections?

Young people are taken care of by their elders–a child is not allowed to wander into the street. So why should young be be allowed to vote? Only those who have been educated into the philosophy of the nation, and have a stake in it, should vote.

Incidentally, this is the idea behind the book (and movie) Starship Troopers.

 

[Holly3278]

There’s only one thing you can definately say: If you don’t vote then you don’t get to complain about whoever is running the show.

I agree with this. If you don’t vote then you really have no right to complain about the way the government is running.

 

[Seeker1961]

I agree with this. If you don’t vote then you really have no right to complain about the way the government is running.

That’s always been my fallback position when I have the choice of the lesser of two evils or the lesser of “who cares”.