The voting age has been a controversial topic for many years now. Some people believe that the voting age should be lowered, while others believe that it should remain the same. In this blog post, I will be discussing why the voting age should not be lowered. I will be addressing some of the common arguments for lowering the voting age, as well as some of the potential consequences of doing so. I hope that after reading this blog post, you will have a better understanding of why the voting age should not be lowered. Thank you for taking the time to read this!
Voting Needs Mature People
The voting age is an important feature of any healthy democracy, as it allows its citizens to express their wishes through voting and truly run the country. However, there are some who believe that the voting age should be lowered in order to increase participation in elections. While this might appear on the surface to be a noble goal, it is important to consider why the voting age was set at 18 – maturity and informed decision-making. People aged 18 and older have had more time to grow and absorb information that forms the basis of informed voting decisions. Anything beneath this means sacrificing quality voting decisions for quantity, with possible dire consequences: uninformed decisions can lead to instability, unrest, and harm social cohesion. For these reasons, it would be ill-advised to lower the voting age and improvements must focus instead on better engaging current voters above the voting age limit.
Failure to Understand Issues Due to Lack of Experience
Discussions around the voting age are regularly in the public sphere, with debates on whether the voting age should remain at 18 or be lowered. It is clear that voting is an immensely important act that carries tremendous responsibility and consequential outcomes. Therefore, voters must have sufficient knowledge, capacity and understanding of their vote’s implications to participate in elections effectively. People at the age of 18 are often still studying, progressing through educational development stages and yet to experience different facets of life. As such, many students lack the maturity, breadth of knowledge and understanding required for voting decisions. Moreover, their voting could depend largely on soundbites, celebrity endorsements and other forms of popular culture to reach a conclusion instead of a deeper analysis of complex issues. The voting age then should remain at 18 as those who can vote must have the appropriate life experience to judge matters more adequately.
Long Queues During Voting
Lowering the voting age would open voting rights to many new people but could lead to significant delays on election day. Although being able to exercise the right to vote is important and valuable, the voting age should not be lowered due to unforeseen complications. From a practical perspective, lowering the voting age would mean longer waiting times at polling booths on election day, which could lead to frustration from those who have had their day interrupted in order to fulfill their voting duties. The long lines caused by a larger turnaround of eligible voters would also use up more money for resources such as voting booths, personnel and staff due to additional voting-related necessities. Lowering the voting age does not seem particularly beneficial for this reason as it is likely that voter participation, in general, may not improve or increase but may even worsen instead. In conclusion, there are many drawbacks associated with lowering the voting age, and this decision should be thoroughly researched before being implemented, as it could prove more of an annoyance than an improvement to the voting dynamic.
Taking Advantage
Lowering the voting age has been the subject of much debate. Those in favor of making voting more accessible have suggested reducing the voting age from 18 to 16, but this idea is not without its risks. At such a young age, some people may be easily swayed into voting for a certain candidate or party due to their lack of understanding as to the consequences of their vote. Without a full explanation of the implications of voting for a certain candidate or policy, this can create an environment of easy manipulation and exploitation by those who wish to influence voting results. It is hard to gauge how much impact this could have at the polls, but allowing potentially naïve and misled minors to participate in voting could lead to dangerous outcomes.
Voting is a Responsibility That Comes with Maturity and Understanding
Lowering the voting age to as young as 16 has been considered in countries across the world, but in many instances, this is a far-fetched idea. To be able to cast a ballot requires certain levels of maturity and discretion that younger generations may not possess. In voting for the future of the nation and landscape around us, each vote should be carefully weighed and conscientiously made – this cannot realistically happen with people from a young age group who are apt to make decisions based on unpredictable or incompletely formed ideologies. Lower voting ages may seem beneficial at first glance, yet it may lead to uninformed decision-making and voting tendencies that are not necessarily founded in fact or suitability. Responsible voting is ultimately rooted in experience, awareness, and understanding – all things that come with age and extended exposure. It’s important to remember that voting is indeed an immense responsibility that should be taken up by mature individuals, making 18 years old the wisest voting age for such activities.
Final Thoughts
In conclusion, the voting age should not be lowered for the following reasons: people at that age are not mature enough to make informed decisions, they don’t have the life experience to understand the issues they would be voting on, lowering the voting age would mean more people would be eligible to vote which could lead to longer lines and wait times at polling booths, some people might take advantage of lower-aged voters by convincing them to vote for a certain candidate or party without fully explaining the consequences of their vote. Voting is a responsibility that comes with maturity and understanding, two things young people lack when they turn 18.
