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More news is below. But first, we examine the voting age.
Coming of age
Britain is about to add up to a million and a half people to its voter rolls. Some lean left, some lean right and others don’t care about politics at all. But all of them are 16 or 17 years old. Liberals are thrilled with the plan, which lawmakers announced yesterday; conservatives are outraged. In planning to lower the national voting age before the next general election, Britain joins a small but growing club of nations willing to test the boundaries of electoral inclusion. Brazil, an early adopter, cut its voting age to 16 in 1988. Austria, Argentina and Malta followed suit in the 2000s. Most recently, Germany and Belgium decided to let 16- and 17-year-olds vote in some elections but not others.
Beneath these changes lies a fundamental question: At what age does civic responsibility begin? Today, I explain the debate and look at how it is reshaping some democracies, including America’s. Who’s ready?Legal codes are filled with age minimums. In the United States, you must be 18 to serve in the military, 21 to drink alcohol and 35 to run for president. Sometimes, these are built on easy-to-understand ideas. Alcohol, for instance, is meant only for people who are likely to drink responsibly. The right to vote follows from the notion that governments draw their legitimacy from the consent of the governed. When can someone give that consent? Experts offer different answers to the question. Developmental psychology: Research shows that by age 16, most adolescents can make informed voting decisions. Maturity is not a monolith: Policymakers think it takes more poise to buy a handgun (which Americans can do at 21) than it does to drive. Although 16-year-olds tend to be impulsive — a problem when it comes to wielding guns — voting is simply an expression of a preference. By 16, most adolescents can express and defend their preference. Partisan politics: Reshaping the electorate has immediate political consequences. If new voters break left, for instance, an electoral expansion may help liberals. That’s why politicians often see the franchise as a means to an end. In Britain, where young voters are typically more liberal, the ruling center-left party is now counting on a boost. That politicizes the process. Civic participation: When people vote at younger ages, they tend to become repeat voters. That can improve voter turnout, which is low in many places. And when younger people have the right to vote, elected officials are more responsive to their interests, research shows. In the United States
For most of American history, people had to be 21 to vote in federal elections. That changed when 18-year-olds started being shipped abroad to fight in the Vietnam War. They protested; they staged sit-ins; they burned their draft cards. If they could die for their country, why couldn’t they vote for its leaders? So, in 1971, states ratified the 26th Amendment, which lowered the voting age to 18. Without another broad-based movement, the federal voting age probably won’t change anytime soon, said Franita Tolson, a law professor at the University of Southern California. But cities and states have their own election laws, and a handful have lowered voting ages. In May 2013, Takoma Park, Md., lowered its minimum age to 16 for municipal elections, making it the first American city to do so. After the change, the new voters began to vote at rates two to three times as high as those of other voters. “Young people are already impacted by the decisions lawmakers make every day, from school funding to climate policy,” said Janhitha Veeramachaneni, a 17-year-old in Jersey City, which is considering trimming its voting age. “We pay taxes, work jobs and navigate the world shaped by those in power.” There’s one other way that teens can do what adults can: After Newark let 16- and 17-year-olds vote in local school-board races, only 73 new voters — out of 1,851 who had registered — showed up. Britain’s governing party is probably hoping for better.
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