With the presidential election right around the corner, more debates have been springing up over the voting age. As youth increase their involvement in politics and politicians realize the power of the young vote, there is a divide over whether or not to raise the voting age or decrease it. Honestly, while it’s important for youth to be involved in politics at an early age, I also believe there’s a benefit to both raising or keeping the voting age for larger elections the same.
Republicans, mainly former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, support raising the voting age either to 21 or 25 with exceptions such as serving six months in the military or if you pass a citizenship test according to AP news. Personally, I can see why people would want to raise the voting age, particularly for larger elections.
The National Institute of Mental Health states that “The brain finishes developing and maturing in the mid-to-late 20s… the prefrontal cortex, is one of the last parts to mature. This area is responsible for skills like planning, prioritizing, and making good decisions.”
Our ideas and beliefs as teenagers change and evolve as we grow up and explore adulthood, so it would make sense for us to wait a few years and settle in our ideas before we’re allowed to make decisions that could affect us later on in life.
On the other hand, more liberal alignments are pushing to lower the voting age to 16. According to Fox News, the campaign Vote16 aims to allow 16-year-olds to vote in “vote in municipal elections and hold the highest elected offices.”
As a soon-to-be adult and high school student, I would like a say in how my community is run. So much of our lives right now is determined on a local level, from how our parks stay clean to how much our teachers are paid. Plus, getting to vote on small things as a young adult can get us more involved in politics and elections later on.
As such, I believe that while high schoolers such be able to vote in smaller elections, however I believe the voting age for national elections should stay the same. This would allow us to get involved in politics and take responsibility for how our communities are run, while also giving us time to build and explore different views and beliefs.
