this post was submitted on 23 Jun 2023

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Missouri teens want to lower the voting age to 16 in local and school elections (news.stlpublicradio.org)

submitted 3 years ago by alyaza@beehaw.org [M] to c/politics@beehaw.org

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[–] Cube6392@beehaw.org 18 points 3 years ago (3 children)

The graduated system of adulthood in this country is very odd in many ways. The age of consent, when you're old enough to start drawing a paycheck, when you're allowed to start driving, when you're allowed to start voting, and when you're allowed to buy marajuana or alcohol are all different ages. And through all of this you're expected to conduct yourself like an adult while your brain chemistry is going through radical changes. I don't know what the right system is, but I feel like it's surely not this one. Maybe the increased franchisement these kids are asking for is right. Maybe we should just be expecting less from our youth. I don't know

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[–] alyaza@beehaw.org [S] 4 points 3 years ago (2 children)

i think it makes sense for voting age to be 16 at least in some cases; internationally it's not that weird of a policy. actually i think a big problem would just be the logistics of carrying it out: since the US doesn't inherently have distinct election dates for municipal, local, state, and federal elections, it's possible for all of them to be on the same ballot (meaning you could be eligible to vote in some races but not others and you'd be potentially committing a crime if you did).

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[–] Thrashy@beehaw.org 3 points 3 years ago*

DC and cities in three states allow noncitizen to vote in local elections, so clearly there's a way to get it done. I suspect it's as Nougat suggests, a separate ballot for non-citizens and/or under-18 voters.

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[–] Nougat@kbin.social 1 point 3 years ago (2 children)

So there's two ballots instead of one. They already give you the ballot for the specific district you're in when you go to vote now. Problem solved.

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[–] alyaza@beehaw.org [S] 1 point 3 years ago (1 child)

that's a solution--but i'm guessing that'd singlehandedly double the additional overhead and complexity for printing and sending out ballots, on top of what those already have to account for.

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[–] SkepticElliptic@beehaw.org 2 points 3 years ago

My town has six districts for the village board but we only have one polling place for the whole town (it's a small town) additionally you can vote early at the county office.

They simply print your ballot when you give them your name at the polling place. You fill in the bubbles and then put it into the ballot machine. It counts it electronically, but it drops down into a locked cabinet.

I'm assuming it's the same procedure for everyone in my county for all the different voting/government body districts people are in.

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[–] immibis@social.immibis.com 1 point 3 years ago

@Nougat @Cube6392 @alyaza that wouldn't achieve the goal of locking up as many untermenschen as possible. Remember the time a black person asked the government if she could vote and they said yes, then she got a long prison sentence for illegally voting?

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[–] DaGeek247@kbin.social 3 points 3 years ago

The graduated system of adulthood in this country is very odd in many ways. The age of consent, when you're old enough to start drawing a paycheck, when you're allowed to start driving, when you're allowed to start voting, and when you're allowed to buy marajuana or alcohol are all different ages. And through all of this you're expected to conduct yourself like an adult while your brain chemistry is going through radical changes.

I'm not so sure I completely agree. A better done graduated system could do a lot better than a single all or nothing system could. Specifically, drugs in general. It's not just that drugs are bad or whatever. it's that the ease with which a company can exploit a younger person, combined with the fact that under a general age the young adults are all having their brains still developed, that the cost to society for allowing drug use is a lot higher than the cost of allowing drug use for older folks.

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[–] JasSmith@kbin.social 2 points 3 years ago (2 children)

I agree. Whatever the age is, we need to afford one the full suite of adult privileges. If we want it to be 16, okay, fine. Then we must allow them to drink, gamble, have sex, buy a house, join the military and get deployed overseas. And they must be accountable for their actions, so they must be tried as adults. Every time.

The reason the system is so confusing right now is that laws are written for convenience and political gain. For example, Democrats in the US are currently pushing for younger people to have the right to vote because they will gain a political advantage. I'm only on board with ideological consistency. It's all or nothing. Define the age of adulthood and provide all privileges.

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[–] alyaza@beehaw.org [S] 2 points 3 years ago (1 child)

The reason the system is so confusing right now is that laws are written for convenience and political gain. For example, Democrats in the US are currently pushing for younger people to have the right to vote because they will gain a political advantage.

i don't think this is really accurate. Democrats broadly don't care about lowering the voting age and it's not a signature plank for them--at most it's an incidental part of voting rights. mostly, the people pushing this are youth activists who also happen to be Democrats because young people are overwhelmingly a Democratic constituency.

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[–] SkepticElliptic@beehaw.org 2 points 3 years ago

They're against it because they know young people won't vote for old people. Why would you hamstring yourself like that?

I'm all for it because it will cause the parties to favor more youthful people. Yes, I'm an ageist when it comes to politicians and for good reasons.

1.You can't make sound decisions for the future if you won't be around to suffer the consequences of your actions.

Wisdom lacks agility. Yes, older politicians have more experience. They don't have experience in the issues we face today. In fact their knowledge and experience runs counter to solving problems we face and will face.

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[–] AnalogyAddict@beehaw.org 2 points 3 years ago (1 child)

That's not how learning works. A graduated system allows people to gradually take on responsibility. Going from a total child to full adult is too much of a shock. It's bad enough as is, with kids having a hard time "adulting."

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[–] JasSmith@kbin.social 1 point 3 years ago (1 child)

If there were to be a graduated system then voting would be the very last thing to bequeath. Deciding the fate of a nation carries far more responsibility than anything else I described.

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[–] AnalogyAddict@beehaw.org 0 points 3 years ago (1 child)

I mean... that's basically how it is now, excluding drinking. I'd rather they learn to vote before legally drinking.

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[–] JasSmith@kbin.social 2 points 3 years ago

Voting comes first right now. If there were to be a graduated system then voting should be the very last thing to bequeath. Deciding the fate of a nation carries far more responsibility than drinking. Best they learn to handle their liquor before deciding whether the nation should go to war.

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