[EL] A 16 year old voted?

[Larry Levine]

My first reaction to this notion is "why?" As a matter of fact, that's my
only reaction.

Larry

 

From: law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu
[mailto:law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu] On Behalf Of David
Adamany
Sent: Thursday, November 12, 2015 4:05 PM
To: law-election at uci.edu
Subject: [EL] A 16 year old voted?

 

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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