Should 16-year-olds have the vote?

[Should 16-year-olds have the vote?]

Should 16-year-olds have the vote?

Yes

 3 (25%)

No

 9 (75%)

Total Members Voted: 12

[Freak]

BBC

BBC News
Calls for the voting age to be lowered to 16 are to be considered by the Electoral Commission.
And John Denham, the home office minister with responsibility for young people, said any recommendation to cut the voting age from 18 would be considered.

The move comes as a government report shows that many 14 to 20-year-olds believe MPs to be out-of-touch.

The report also found that 59% of young people have little interest in politics and that only 31% felt there is a duty to vote.

Should the voting age be lowered? Will it help young people to engage in politics?

[MisterManager]

no...think about what an idiot you were when you were 16?

[Freak]

You really shouldn't ask rhetorical questions to which you don't know the answer.

[MisterManager]

think about whether you should ask rhetorical questions to which I dont know the answer?

[jillibean]

I say yes- my high school had a class set up just for the 2000 election where basically all we did was do research on candidates and learned the process. After the election we just watched the saturday night live presidential parody sketches for a couple weeks-- good fun- but I think that class made me a more informed voter. Not every 16 year old will do their own research but then again most americans don't either- they believe whatever is on the TV or vote for the one who is more attractive-- what a system!

[Alamo]

Yes:

1) Most 16-year-olds won't vote anyway; only the super-motivated and exceptionally intelligent will care enough.  Hell, hardly any 18-year-olds vote, and I think a majority of the voting-eligible public fails to vote even for presidential elections.
2) Even if they did vote en masse, they'd be a miniscule bloc, and one that candidates would lose more votes than they'd gain by pandering to.  Or perhaps they could help a third-party candidate gain more than .7% of the vote.
3) Allowing 16-year-olds to vote will get people thinking about the issues at a younger age, which is good for any country.

The only danger I see is 16-year-olds becoming tools of their parents: "You vote for X or you're grounded!"  Of course secret ballot kind of takes the teeth out of that one.