Voting age at 18 is unconstitutional

Just think about it.

In the US, people can only vote at 18. It's been like that for a while. But times have changed...

Young people now work when they are 15-16 years old. And they are taxed.

They pay taxes, but cannot vote. They have committed no crime that would warrant their right to representation to be canceled.

Taxation without representation is unconstitutional and the country was founded on that idea.

19+ states are already considering lowering the voting age.

Kids are educated...more than many people that are old enough to vote.

It is time to change the laws and let their voice be heard.

BTW this could apply to all countries... tax the young? Let them vote then.

reply to post by Vitchilo


They started working at much younger than 15-16 when the constitution was written....kids 200 years ago were probably better versed in politics than kids today. At least the age is 18 now....before the 26th amendment, many states had a minimum age of 21.

Time have changed. Though not in the work force really.

Children working

Kids worked all the time, which is why they had to make a law. I get your point though. Sorta.

Plus, children work these days, either because their parents let them, make them, or they want to earn some cash, and unfortunately, some have to, in order to provide for their family. For the most part, it is a choice. Taxes, is a whole subject in its own.

[edit on 10-8-2010 by Myendica]

I would feel real nervous about a bunch of 16 year olds voting. Sure, I'm sure many of them could vote competently, but I'm sure even more would not be able to. Probably have a bunch of write ins for twilight actors or some crap.

I have a 17 year old sister and I'm glad she can't vote yet, she has a lot of maturing to do, as do most kids that age.

What a great idea, letting 15 year olds vote!
I'm speechless, why in the world....?
I'm not even crazy about letting them drive.

Originally posted by OldDragger
What a great idea, letting 15 year olds vote!
I'm speechless, why in the world....?
I'm not even crazy about letting them drive.

I can see it now...

Mom to minor child: You better get in that voting booth and vote Republican or your grounded mister!

Anyone who pays taxes should have an opinion as to who should be responsible for spending it, so therefor, I agree the voting age should be dropped (somewhat). Why should illegal immigrant get more benefits then the legal youths of the United States?

Originally posted by Aggie Man

Originally posted by OldDragger
What a great idea, letting 15 year olds vote!
I'm speechless, why in the world....?
I'm not even crazy about letting them drive.

I can see it now...

Mom to minor child: You better get in that voting booth and vote Republican or your grounded mister!

I think it would be the other way around. Young people tend to vote democrat. Why? because of bush. Bush made being 'liberal' and democrat popular. Young people voted for obama because it was the 'cool' thing to do. not because of what they belived in what he said.

It shouldn't be a tax for children who work, instead that portion the Gov't wants should go towards college or continued education, and the Gov't should be forced to match the funds.

They shouldn't vote until 18, and then they should be given a test first! Who was the first president and who was the most recent vice-president; those who cannot answer should not vote. (Seriously I have seen video of these two questions completely fudged).

Taxation without representation is the bottom line here.

Don't tax people below 18 then. Problem solved.

And yes in a perfect world... all people should take a test before being allowed to vote. A standard 5 questions test should do the trick.

But in an even more perfect world, everyone would be educated about the issues and we wouldn't need a test and competent people would be elected by an INFORMED MAJORITY.

[edit on 10-8-2010 by Vitchilo]

As I recall from my experience long ago, as a minor working and going to school I never earned enough money annually to be considered above the poverty level; therefore, I always got a 100% refund on my income tax. Do kids really earn so much now that they could be self sufficient?

reply to post by Vitchilo


Okay, where is your Constitutional evidence, considering you said it is un-Constitutional?

While certainly, the age to work is younger than 18, those under 18 can serve in the Military, age 17, with parental consent, but they are not legally supposed to smoke, even though that happens as well.

No, I am not saying I disagree, nor am I saying I agree either.

But claiming something is un-Constitutional without backing it up?

Bring something more than no taxation, without representation to the table.

Besides that, just how many people under the age of 18 do you think care?

Seriously.

Do you honestly think they would care they can vote?

Because it takes something like MTV just to get them out of their apathy and angst.

Would they take it seriously as a responsibility or would it stay the same?

When it comes to voting so many do not see that their vote counts.

I am neither saying it does or does not count but the perceptions of some are that it counts, some believe it does not count, some believe the elections are rigged, bought and paid for, and or wholly out of our hands.

An example would be voting verses the Electoral College.

Do people under 18 care that much or is that in a minority of voices?

I know when I was under 18 those around me could not care less about politics.

I cared but none under 18 did as well as many adults I knew did not care.

Just some food for thought because you have a good idea.

I am just looking for some facts to back up your argument as well as evidence.

[edit on 10-8-2010 by SpartanKingLeonidas]

Honestly I don't see many people under 18 even wanting to bother to vote. It's hard enough finding people over 21 who bother to vote. Heck just with our local elections last week only 30% of registered voters bothered. These are people 18+, throw 15-17 into the mix and your percentage is even lower i'll wager.

reply to post by Vitchilo

Do you remember the song LUV (let us vote) which was played around '68 or '69?

I forget what they were doing with the requirements for voting. Was it that you had to be 21, and they were pushing for 18? I can't recall if it was simply a pop song or a marketing song.

I don't think children should vote. They are more easily influenced by propaganda than older persons are influenced, theoretically. tptb wouldn't even have to fix elections with false ballot counts, just play some ads geared toward kids.

reply to post by Vitchilo


America's very existence is because a war was waged over "taxation without representation". Therefore, its a very, very serious violation that 16 year olds are being taxed by not being allowed to vote. It is their money and they should have a say.

However, I agree with Vitchilo that the most obvious thing to do would be stop taxing minors.

But there are a couple other problems. First, voting doesn't matter much when there are over 100 people voting, and it is definitely pointless if more than 3,000 people have already cast votes. Your vote is statistically irrlevant at that point. The second problem is that voting itself isn't exactly a spectacular system, because you have situations where the majority is forcing something morally wrong on a minority of people. And they don't feel bad about it for the simple fact that they are the majority, which is a big mistake in morals.

Hiding in a big mob of people doesn't give you an excuse to throw a rock any more than it gives you an excuse to vote in something like taking away someone's own personal property without their consent. If something is a crime as an individual it should be a crime as a collective as well.

reply to post by Greensage


Oh thats a good idea, Make sure the person voting actually has a IQ, I support this

Why do you think this is even an issue? It's only the latest generation that start working at 15 or 16. Prior generations began working much earlier. The first time I paid taxes I was 9 yo and I've only had a couple of years after that that I didn't pay. No one would even think a 9 yo is mature enough to vote but I still had to pay taxes. In my opinion an 18 yo is too immature to vote (I know I was).

you guys are all implying that voting actually does anything. talk about an illusion of voice, choice and power.

[edit on 10-8-2010 by LadySkadi]

Whaaaaa.... I want to vote....

A new generation, same cry.

When I was a kid, and at 16 you are a kid, you could join the military by lying or wait until you were 18 and be drafted. You couldn't vote. You couldn't buy beer in most states except 3.2 beer. But you could sure as hell could die for your country fighting in war.

Forget the tax issue, that's crap and we'll address that in a few.

The age was lowered for all the kids fighting in Vietnam to have a say while fighting for their country. Over 50,000 kids died there, most of them never being old enough to vote. Eisenhower actually talked about lowering the voting age, but it was never more than lip service for the young kids.

What taxes do you pay? Sales tax on video games. It sure isn't income tax because you are a minor at 16, someone's dependent. If you don't get back everything you have paid, and your parents aren't getting a break; then you need a better accountant. There is no way a 16 or 17 year old is paying taxes while going to school. Too many loopholes in the tax rules, you need a better story.

Not going to school you say, then you made a big boy decision and have to suffer the consequences of society by not following the norms of education in early life, hence the tax breaks, and welcome to the real world.