The Democrats want to make changes to the Constitution so that they can lower the legal voting age to 16 years. But what’s behind this push by the left to get minors to vote in elections?
Last week, House Democrats introduced a resolution to abolish the 26th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The 26th Amendment requires only those United States citizens to vote who are at least 18 years old to. Abolishing it would allow the Democrats to lower the voting age to 16 years at a minimum. OANN quoted from the Democrats’ resolution:
“The right of citizens of the United States, who are sixteen years of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of age.”
The resolution is a repeat attempt by Democrats to let younger teenagers to vote in elections, on both state and federal levels. In 2019, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts introduced a resolution to lower the federal voting age to 16. The resolution failed in the House by a 126-305 vote. But Democrats have continued to work on lowering the voting age to 16 and have proposed state and local legislations in Oregon, Virginia, California, Massachusetts, and D.C.
Conservatives have questioned the motives behind the left’s push for allowing minors to vote. Nancy Pelosi, who recently lost her House speakership, has expressed her support for the proposed legislation on lowering voting age since 2019. Her comment on the proposed amendment in 2019, cited by The Daily Caller (January 13), offers a clue of what’s in it for the Democrats:
“I think it’s really important to capture kids when they’re in high school, when they’re interested in all of this when they’re learning about government to be able to vote.”
The National Youth Rights Association agrees with Democrats on the voting age issue and considers it “age-based discrimination” to not allow people younger than 16 to vote in elections, and they also state that it’s “disenfranchising young people” adding that it’s “far from ethical.”
In 2021, the NOQ Report cited a number of polls and studies showing that the under-18 segment of population is mainly liberal in their worldview and happens to be the “low information voter.” The post concluded:
“If 16-year-olds were allowed to vote, it is safe to assume that many would vote Democrat rather than Republican. Therein lies the heart of this debate.”
This likely explains why Pelosi wants to capture the youth while they are still 16.
To amend the Constitution for lowering the federal voting age, Democrats need two-thirds of House and Senate members to vote for their resolution in the House and the Senate, respectively.