Not content with dominating the deceased vote, Democrats consider opening the demographic on the other end.
According to the New York Times:
The campaign, called Vote16USA, which will be announced on Wednesday, aims to lower the voting age to 16 from 18 to spur civic engagement by younger Americans. But the push, by a nonpartisan group based in New York called Generation Citizen, which seeks to promote youth participation in politics, is igniting a debate about voter competency, adolescent decision making and whether allowing younger people to vote is the best way to politically engage teenagers.
In some States, sixteen isn’t even old enough to drive alone, and in many, it’s not even old enough to consent to adult relations. A Sixteen year old isn’t much beyond believing in Santa Claus, which is why the Democrats want to see them at the polls. What could be better for Bernie Sanders, than an electorate who hasn’t moved on to advanced mathematics?
Heck, I don’t even think eighteen is old enough to be voting. While I understand the principle behind allowing draft age adults to cast a ballot, I still question its logic. There’s a reason why we moved the drinking age back up to 21. And If a kid isn’t old enough to decide which brand of beer best represents his attitude, he probably isn’t old enough to align himself with a political party just yet. I know I wasn’t. I did something at the polls back in 1980, that still makes me cringe every time I think about it.
Fortunately, even if this does gain traction nationwide, I can’t see 16 year olds rushing out to the ballot box. Heck it’s hard enough to get them to wheel the cans out to the street on trash day; I can’t see them remembering the Tuesday following the first Monday in November.