OPINION: Should we lower the voting age to 16?
According to NBC News, the majority of the Washington, D.C., council as well as the mayor and the “Washington Post” are pushing a bill that would make the District of Columbia the first place in the nation to allow people as young as 16 to vote in federal elections (including presidential races).
A growing number of cities and states are considering their own ways to expand “civic engagement” to younger people.
I’m not one of those “Children should be seen and not heard” curmudgeons. Many 16-year-olds have extensive life experience supporting their families, and I know some high school students whose voting judgment I would trust implicitly; but I still have mixed emotions about upending the status quo.