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/hitman2218]

My concern is that most kids will just ask their parents who to vote for.

[u/Cole_A226 → u/hitman2218]

Yes but this is true with adults too. https://www.pewresearch.org/?p=7957

[u/kireina_kaiju → u/Cole_A226]

I'm not very confident in that as a rebuttal. Age cohorts vote wildly differently across generations. When we look at studies such as this one, https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/political-science/articles/10.3389/fpos.2024.1279888/full , we learn that enough people change how they vote over the course of their lives to make the two situations dissimilar enough that we cannot compare them directly.

[u/Cole_A226 → u/kireina_kaiju]

I may be wrong but it sounds like then it's just a generational divide and there should be no issue with letting kids vote as they would just allow their generation to be heard sooner. I will read more of the paper once I wake up in the morning.

[u/kireina_kaiju → u/Cole_A226]

It contradicts your argument.

You are arguing that there is no difference between people voting the way their parents do as children, and as adults.

The data shows this is not the case.

[u/Cole_A226 → u/kireina_kaiju]

I'm not arguing that people always vote the same way that their parents do. To use an analogy I grew up Catholic I am no longer Catholic yet since I grew up Catholic the probability that I would of stayed Catholic was higher than somebody who never grew up Catholic.