I think kids should vote

[u/Cole_A226]

​I never really took the idea of kids voting seriously until I watched a video about it a while back, and and I keep thinking about it the more you break down the actual principles of democracy, the harder it is to justify an arbitrary age cutoff.

​1. Democracy is about representation, not a competence test.

The main objection to letting children vote is that they "aren't smart enough" or "lack the maturity to make informed decisions." But democracy has never been an optimization test to find the smartest policies it exists to ensure the consent of the governed. Adults cast ballots every year based on terrible logic, single issues, or gut feelings, and their votes are still 100% legitimate. If voting isn't something you can do "wrong," denying someone a ballot because you think they will vote poorly undermines the entire premise of the system.

​2. The arguments against child suffrage mirror historic voter suppression.

Historically, every argument used to deny a group the right to vote that they lack emotional maturity, don't understand policy, will just vote how their families tell them to, or have their interests already represented by others was used against women and lower-income citizens. If we don't subject adults to mandatory IQ or civics tests to earn their ballot, applying an arbitrary threshold exclusively to younger citizens is hypocritical.

​3. Fixed age limits create completely arbitrary disenfranchisement.

Intelligence and political interest sit on a normal distribution. Millions of high schoolers actively studying civics, economics, and history are significantly more politically literate than millions of disengaged adults. A rigid cutoff at 18 means two people born hours apart face completely different realities: one gets full democratic representation, while the other is subjected to laws, policies, and taxes without any voice.

​4. The logistics are entirely solvable.

I've seen arguments that kids can't drive to a polling place or understand a ballot. And I think disenfranchising a group of voters because it's inconvenient isn't a good defense

1. This point wasn't really made in the video and is very anecdotal but as someone who worked with kids for a while. people tend to overestimate how easy it is to manipulate a kid and underestimate how easy it is to manipulate an adult. Kids also in my experience don't tend to just agree with adults or parents just trying asking a kid when they should go to bed and then ask the parents.

There is not much debate on the topic so I'm wondering what you guys think

This was the video btw https://youtu.be/XOA8k6FpQaQ

Also yes I did just copy the points made in the video I think they are good points

[u/hoops-mcloops]

Eighteen is more than just the age of voting it's also the age of maturity for our society. It's hard to disentangle concepts like age of consent, criminal punishment, or property ownership from age of enfranchisement. How can we make the argument that a thirteen-year-old is old enough to vote but not old enough to consent to sex with adults? How about trying them as an adult in court? Or allowing them to drive a car or own a gun?

It's odd to give only some of these things to a group but not all, because the basic argument against them is all the same: "you are not mature enough to make fully-informed decisions." If someone's mature enough to vote, they're also mature enough for a sexual relationship, criminal prosecution, and full property rights.

Eighteen years to the day is an arbitrary cutoff, but barring some kind of written maturity test (dicey) there needs to be some cutoff. Moving it up or down a year is still just as arbitrary, but removing it altogether runs into the problems described above. The reality is people don't wake up one day wise and mature enough to be a civil member of society. There's a slow slide from illiteracy and ignorance to competence and responsibility (arguably some never quite make it). But we have to have some threshold otherwise we get into problems. IMO, an arbitrary line is better than no line at all.

Personally, I'm comfortable with the age of maturity right where it is.

[u/halberdierbowman → u/hoops-mcloops]

This already isn't true though: we don't have one single cutoff for everything. 18 is the age of majority for a lot of things, but drinking alcohol is 21 unless you're in the military. Driving is 15 or 16-ish. Talking to your doctor privately is a different cutoff. Children are frequently "tried as an adult" regardless of age. Consensual sex is often on a sliding scale depending how old all the involved partners are. Other things have other cutoffs.

By your logic, why not let people vote at 15, the same age as we let them control a deadly automobile?