[EL] A 16 year old voted?

[David Adamany]

I was not aware until today's postings of serious discussion to lower the voting age to 16.   Can anyone point me to a reliable summary of the activities and arguments surrounding this issue?



My initial reaction is to wonder about the political atmosphere for such a change.   When Congress voted to submit the 26th Amendment to the states we have a very large number of veterans who had gone to war when there was a draft.   (Some veterans volunteered of course, but most, I believe, were draftees.)   Those would have been veterans of World War I, World War II, the Korean War, and the war in Viet Nam.   And my rough estimate of their number (subject to correction by more knowledgeable readers) was between 21 and 24 million.   A great many would have been under 21 years of age at the time they were drafted or volunteered (but all would have been over 18).  Hence, the argument: old enough to fight, old enough to vote.



What might be the constituency for a 16-year old vote that would have the natural appeal to Congress and the public?



And has anyone given thought to just how many people would be added to the electorate and how many to the actual vote by such a change.    My initial reaction was that parents who vote regularly would be most likely to facilitate the registration of their 16 and 17 year old children.   On second thought, it occurred to me that voter registration among that age cohort might be much larger than at 18 years old because registration would be very likely to occur in high schools.



A final thought:  If registration were quite high, for the reason above, would voting also be considerably higher than among 18 to 22 year olds?   The latter group are often on the move residentially and hence do not register to vote.   The younger cohort, by contrast, are more likely to be residentially stable and hence not to be disqualified from voting by various registration requirements.    Moreover, to the extent that school buildings are still the site of polling places in many communities, 16 and 17 year olds might have a quite high turnout rate as compared to those slightly older.   If these many surmises are correct, there would be increased potential for changed election results.



I am utterly devoid of evidence on these matters, but the thought of a 16 old vote rule certainly provokes my speculative tendencies.



Can anyone suggest some serious study of any of those issues: the seriousness of the prospects for such a change, the effect on voter registration  and turnout, and the potential impact on election outcomes?  I'm sure that members of state legislatures and Congress will be alert to such implications and will, at the same time, not be faced with the "old enough to fight, old enough to vote" pressures that surrounded the 26th Amendment.



David Adamany
Laura Carnell Professor of Law
and Political Science, and
Chancellor
1810 Liacouras Walk, Ste 330
Temple University
Philadelphia, PA 19122
(215) 204-9278


David Adamany
Laura Carnell Professor of Law
and Political Science, and
Chancellor
1810 Liacouras Walk, Ste 330
Temple University
Philadelphia, PA 19122
(215) 204-9278

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