House votes against lowering voting age to 16 for federal elections

[Attorney General & PPT Dwarven Dragon]

Proposed as an Amendment to HR 1, it failed 126-305. The following members of the Democratic Leadership Team voted No - Hoyer, Jeffries, Bustos, Torres, Matsui, Perlmutter, Scanlon, Morelle. Burgess was the only Republican to vote Yes.

http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2019/roll111.xml

[OSR stands with Israel]

Good

[Coastal Elitist]

Thank goodness.

[cinyc]

If you're not old enough to smoke, drink alcohol, gamble, buy a gun or enter into contracts because you're "too immature", why should you be able to vote?

You're either an adult or you're not. The only consistent thing would be to lower the age for all of those things to 16 - or keep things as is. You need to be 21 to drink, and most states are going the opposite way on smoking and gun buying - raising the age to 21.

[user12345]

Surprising to see so many vote yes on this.

[OneJ]

If you're not old enough to smoke, drink alcohol, gamble, buy a gun or enter into contracts because you're "too immature", why should you be able to vote?

You're either an adult or you're not. The only consistent thing would be to lower the age for all of those things to 16 - or keep things as is. You need to be 21 to drink, and most states are going the opposite way on smoking and gun buying - raising the age to 21.

I guess I’ll agree to disagree on this. The problem with this argument is that acts such as smoking, drinking, etc. affect people’s health and those acts will affect teens the most. Voting at at an age as young as 16 does not pose a health risk. There are even benefits for 16 and 17 year olds voting. In my opinion, this would help prepare young people for the future.

[Yellowhammer]

If you are going to be a legal adult before the winners of the next election are set to take office, you should be able to vote in the current election.

In other words, if an election is going to have an effect on ongoing political situations at points in time when you are a legal adult, you ought to have a say in the process.

The minimum voting age should be about 11 and 5/6ths based on this and the fact that the US Senate uses 6 year terms that start about 2 months after the election, and that office is the office with the longest terms.

Since elections that occur after I'm dead will affect my descendants or my estate, shouldn't I then be able to vote posthumously?

[America Needs a 13-6 Progressive SCOTUS]

If you are going to be a legal adult before the winners of the next election are set to take office, you should be able to vote in the current election.

In other words, if an election is going to have an effect on ongoing political situations at points in time when you are a legal adult, you ought to have a say in the process.

The minimum voting age should be about 11 and 5/6ths based on this and the fact that the US Senate uses 6 year terms that start about 2 months after the election, and that office is the office with the longest terms.

Since elections that occur after I'm dead will affect my descendants or my estate, shouldn't I then be able to vote posthumously?

I mean, those elections would not affect you personally so...

[Yellowhammer]

If you are going to be a legal adult before the winners of the next election are set to take office, you should be able to vote in the current election.

In other words, if an election is going to have an effect on ongoing political situations at points in time when you are a legal adult, you ought to have a say in the process.

The minimum voting age should be about 11 and 5/6ths based on this and the fact that the US Senate uses 6 year terms that start about 2 months after the election, and that office is the office with the longest terms.

Since elections that occur after I'm dead will affect my descendants or my estate, shouldn't I then be able to vote posthumously?

I mean, those elections would not affect you personally so...

Minors are not taxpayers, so how exactly would they be directly affected in the time between when they are 11 and 18?

[America Needs a 13-6 Progressive SCOTUS]

I guess more realistically, 15 5/6 year old threshold would suffice since it gives them completely equal say on that level when it comes to the House of Representatives level.

Actually, after thinking it through, I have changed my mind and I think that 15 5/6 makes way more sense than 11 5/6, so the threshold should be 15 5/6.

[America Needs a 13-6 Progressive SCOTUS]

If you are going to be a legal adult before the winners of the next election are set to take office, you should be able to vote in the current election.

In other words, if an election is going to have an effect on ongoing political situations at points in time when you are a legal adult, you ought to have a say in the process.

The minimum voting age should be about 11 and 5/6ths based on this and the fact that the US Senate uses 6 year terms that start about 2 months after the election, and that office is the office with the longest terms.

Since elections that occur after I'm dead will affect my descendants or my estate, shouldn't I then be able to vote posthumously?

I mean, those elections would not affect you personally so...

Minors are not taxpayers, so how exactly would they be directly affected in the time between when they are 11 and 18?

They would no longer be minors while some of the politicians elected in elections they never had a chance to vote in were still serving terms from said elections.

Though after thinking about it, a 15 5/6 threshold does make more sense and it still completely works when it comes to the House of Representatives.

[Yellowhammer]

If you are going to be a legal adult before the winners of the next election are set to take office, you should be able to vote in the current election.

In other words, if an election is going to have an effect on ongoing political situations at points in time when you are a legal adult, you ought to have a say in the process.

The minimum voting age should be about 11 and 5/6ths based on this and the fact that the US Senate uses 6 year terms that start about 2 months after the election, and that office is the office with the longest terms.

Since elections that occur after I'm dead will affect my descendants or my estate, shouldn't I then be able to vote posthumously?

I mean, those elections would not affect you personally so...

Minors are not taxpayers, so how exactly would they be directly affected in the time between when they are 11 and 18?

They would no longer be minors while some of the politicians elected in elections they never had a chance to vote in were still serving terms from said elections.

Though after thinking about it, a 15 5/6 threshold does make more sense and it still completely works when it comes to the House of Representatives.

Most adults aren't informed enough to be voting, not to mention teenagers. If anything, the voting age needs to be raised; perhaps drastically.

[Bismarck]

I don’t see how lowering the voting age would help anything. It’s a solution in search of a problem. 18 may be arbitrary but you have to draw the line somewhere and the legal age of adulthood when people reach the age when they graduate high school seems appropriate.

[Bleach Blonde Bad Built Butch Bodies for Biden]

More young people voting benefits Democrats, so every Democrat who voted against this is a cuck.  Democrats in non-competitive districts especially have no excuse.

[7,052,770]

If you are going to be a legal adult before the winners of the next election are set to take office, you should be able to vote in the current election.

In other words, if an election is going to have an effect on ongoing political situations at points in time when you are a legal adult, you ought to have a say in the process.

The minimum voting age should be about 11 and 5/6ths based on this and the fact that the US Senate uses 6 year terms that start about 2 months after the election, and that office is the office with the longest terms.

Since elections that occur after I'm dead will affect my descendants or my estate, shouldn't I then be able to vote posthumously?

I mean, those elections would not affect you personally so...

Minors are not taxpayers, so how exactly would they be directly affected in the time between when they are 11 and 18?

How the world are you under the impression that people under 18 don't pay taxes???

[Figueira]

Unfortunate, but nice to see so many Aye votes. I wouldn't be shocked to see this start to happen on the state level.

[Crumpets]

They pay taxes, they drive on public roads, they have healthcare needs, many are parents, and there is no way you can convince me 16 year olds (at least the ones who would take the time to go and vote) have a fundamentally worse grasp of politics than someone who is 100+ years old.

[Badger]

Surprising to see so many vote yes on this.

[S019]

Good,

I don’t think many people even over 20 are poltically informed and just about every 16 and 17 year old I know is a very liberal Democrat, and they really cannot explain why they have that position and finds my ideas intolerable.

[Crumpets]

Good,

I don’t think many people even over 20 are poltically informed and just about every 16 and 17 year old I know is a very liberal Democrat, and they really cannot explain why they have that position and finds my ideas intolerable.

Since when have we required people know anything about politics before they can vote? I actually think it would be an interesting system to try out that you could register to vote at any age before 18 if you can pass a basic civics course, kind of like how we do drivers' ed. In the meantime, though, if we're going to cut people off for being young idiots, maybe we should also cut off the olds who think they just won $1,000,000 and should click here to claim their prize!

[Coastal Elitist]

They pay taxes, they drive on public roads, they have healthcare needs, many are parents, and there is no way you can convince me 16 year olds (at least the ones who would take the time to go and vote) have a fundamentally worse grasp of politics than someone who is 100+ years old.

Do you actually know any 16 year olds who pay taxes? Like I had a summer job when I was 16, but I didn't make enough to pay taxes because there is a certain threshold you have to reach otherwise you pay nothing. I'm pretty sure this is the case for most if not all 16 year olds. Since they have to go to school and can't work that much.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

I notice nobody has directly challenged Yellowhammer's implicit premise that the only reason someone could have a legitimate interest in the actions of the federal government is that they pay taxes, despite the fact that that premise is complete poppycock.

[Cold War Liberal]

If you are going to be a legal adult before the winners of the next election are set to take office, you should be able to vote in the current election.

In other words, if an election is going to have an effect on ongoing political situations at points in time when you are a legal adult, you ought to have a say in the process.

The minimum voting age should be about 11 and 5/6ths based on this and the fact that the US Senate uses 6 year terms that start about 2 months after the election, and that office is the office with the longest terms.

Since elections that occur after I'm dead will affect my descendants or my estate, shouldn't I then be able to vote posthumously?

I mean, those elections would not affect you personally so...

Minors are not taxpayers, so how exactly would they be directly affected in the time between when they are 11 and 18?

Not remotely true, I’ve been a taxpayer almost four years longer than I’ve been a voter (got my first job just after I turned 15 and was able to vote for the first time in a federal general election a month before my 19th birthday). Additionally, thanks to the motor voter law, I’ve been registered to vote since September 2015 but only legally allowed to exercise the franchise in elections following December 22, 2017.

If you’re legally mature enough to drive yourself to the polls, join the workforce, pay your taxes, and register to vote, why aren’t you mature enough to cast a ballot?

[Crumpets]

They pay taxes, they drive on public roads, they have healthcare needs, many are parents, and there is no way you can convince me 16 year olds (at least the ones who would take the time to go and vote) have a fundamentally worse grasp of politics than someone who is 100+ years old.

Do you actually know any 16 year olds who pay taxes? Like I had a summer job when I was 16, but I didn't make enough to pay taxes because there is a certain threshold you have to reach otherwise you pay nothing. I'm pretty sure this is the case for most if not all 16 year olds. Since they have to go to school and can't work that much.

Well, I'm 25 and don't hang out with that many 16 year olds, so the answer is no. However, I actually did have to pay taxes when I was 16. For one of my birthdays when I was a kid, my grandma bought me some stock in a local startup called "Amazon.com." When I was 16, I sold that stock to buy my first car in high school, and I had to pay capital gains tax on that stock. Fun fact: had I not sold that stock to buy that car, it would today be worth upwards of $60,000. But I'm not bitter about it, I promise........

That's kind of an exceptional case, but I can guarantee that, even if most teens don't pay income tax, many do. That's not to mention sales tax, license tabs, or fuel tax.

And again, if we're going off of "do they pay taxes?" as a qualification to vote:

[JA]

If you are going to be a legal adult before the winners of the next election are set to take office, you should be able to vote in the current election.

In other words, if an election is going to have an effect on ongoing political situations at points in time when you are a legal adult, you ought to have a say in the process.

The minimum voting age should be about 11 and 5/6ths based on this and the fact that the US Senate uses 6 year terms that start about 2 months after the election, and that office is the office with the longest terms.

Since elections that occur after I'm dead will affect my descendants or my estate, shouldn't I then be able to vote posthumously?

I mean, those elections would not affect you personally so...

Minors are not taxpayers, so how exactly would they be directly affected in the time between when they are 11 and 18?

They would no longer be minors while some of the politicians elected in elections they never had a chance to vote in were still serving terms from said elections.

Though after thinking about it, a 15 5/6 threshold does make more sense and it still completely works when it comes to the House of Representatives.

Most adults aren't informed enough to be voting, not to mention teenagers. If anything, the voting age needs to be raised; perhaps drastically.

To be fair, the average 16yo American is probably more informed and less of a political edgelord than you. I wouldn't be arguing against voting rights on the basis of how informed a person is if I was you, my man.