The main issue that people debate about lowering the voting age is the maturity level of teenagers and their ability to understand the issues being voted on. People, both teens and adults disagree that teens are capable of voting. I believe teens are mature and capable of voting on important issues. For instance, in 2002, a teenager named Joshua Lederman represented a bill to lower the voting age in front of House committee members in Arizona. Although the bill did not pass, the teen with his head high said “Most bills take at least three years to get introduced anyway. We knew if we got it out of committee, we'd be very lucky." (Bach) It takes a lot of guts, being a 16 year old teenager, to stand in front of several adults (House committee members) and ask for something intelligently with confidence. Joshua Lederman did just that.
Youth organizations (Kids Voting USA, NYRA, etc.), a few politicians, most educators, parents and teens are interested in this research. Several of these groups of people believe in lowering the voting age and have assisted the teens by introducing bills in several states. Unfortunately, to date, none of these bills have been passed.
Other than newspaper articles, I am not currently sure where to check for ‘reliable’ sources regarding the next two questions:
- ‘Where people discuss their positions on this issue?’
- ‘Where would I go to find out what people are ‘currently’ saying?’
I would like to get better perspectives of people currently involved in this issue. Unfortunately, I do not believe I have enough time to survey or interview authoritative and reliable sources. I will have to review this point more in-depth and make a quick decision.
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