“A reform that I’m excited about is lowering the voting age to 16, at least for local elections. Studies show that 18 is not a great age to start the habit of voting. At least in America, kids are moving out of their home. They’re either going to university or they’re entering the workforce. We move a lot in America, and so people are often moving far away from home. Now we have various voting laws that make you register to vote, obtain the right kind of ID There’s so much going on in an 18-year-old’s life, it’s no wonder that voting is not a priority. But if we lower the voting age to 16, maybe just for local elections or school board elections, we have them all there still in school. We can get them registered. We can educate them properly. And what’s happened, there’s about six cities in the United States, mostly in Maryland and California, that have done this, that have lowered the voting age to 16 for local elections or school board elections. And what the study shows is that voter turnout jumps about double for 16 and 17-year-olds as compared to 18 to 24-year-olds. So it seems to make a big difference. And then the idea is that if you start voting in the first election when you’re eligible, you’re much more likely to become a habitual voter. And studies also show that if you miss the first election when you are an eligible voter, you’re much more likely to become a habitual non-voter. And so I think one key is to figure out how do we get young people to start engaging earlier on so that they become lifelong voters.
” #democracy #voting #learning
