This episode takes on the question of allowing access to the vote for persons under the age of 18.
The United States Constitution does not restrict voting to those over the age of 18. It states that the right to vote for people at least 18 years of age may not be restricted on the basis of age. States are free to reduce the voting age if they so choose; there is no Constitutional prohibition against it. In 1965, the federal government reduced the voting age to 18 as part of the civil rights acts starting in 1964, but SCOTUS ruled that the Congress had no power to set the voting age in other elections. It was decided, since it was less costly than maintaining different election systems for local, state and federal elections, that they would simply amend the Constitution. It was promptly ratified by the states.
You can go to the website for Cornell Law School, if you like, to verify the above. That's where I got it.
But again, the states have every right to decide this for themselves. If Massachusetts and California want to reduce the voting age to, say, 16, they can. There are significant arguments in favor of this, not least of which is that the earlier people get involved in the business of voting, the more likely they are to stay involved their whole lives. As far as I can tell, the chief argument against it is that people under the age of 18 are too young to make rational decisions, while we can try them as adults in criminal matters at a much younger age. As if adults are likely to make rational decisions, anyway.
I like that Boston Legal brought up the issue. I don't like that 12 years has passed since Boston Legal has brought up the issue and no one talks about it. So contact folks in your state government, which is easier to contact than your federal government and is much more likely to actually get something done, and ask them to reduce the voting age.
Unless you're afraid of getting more people involved in voting.
The United States Constitution does not restrict voting to those over the age of 18. It states that the right to vote for people at least 18 years of age may not be restricted on the basis of age. States are free to reduce the voting age if they so choose; there is no Constitutional prohibition against it. In 1965, the federal government reduced the voting age to 18 as part of the civil rights acts starting in 1964, but SCOTUS ruled that the Congress had no power to set the voting age in other elections. It was decided, since it was less costly than maintaining different election systems for local, state and federal elections, that they would simply amend the Constitution. It was promptly ratified by the states.
You can go to the website for Cornell Law School, if you like, to verify the above. That's where I got it.
But again, the states have every right to decide this for themselves. If Massachusetts and California want to reduce the voting age to, say, 16, they can. There are significant arguments in favor of this, not least of which is that the earlier people get involved in the business of voting, the more likely they are to stay involved their whole lives. As far as I can tell, the chief argument against it is that people under the age of 18 are too young to make rational decisions, while we can try them as adults in criminal matters at a much younger age. As if adults are likely to make rational decisions, anyway.
I like that Boston Legal brought up the issue. I don't like that 12 years has passed since Boston Legal has brought up the issue and no one talks about it. So contact folks in your state government, which is easier to contact than your federal government and is much more likely to actually get something done, and ask them to reduce the voting age.
Unless you're afraid of getting more people involved in voting.
