Voting Age Lowered To Sixteen, Does Anyone Think It's A Good Idea?

[dave50]

This is what the Liberal Democrats are proposing, only because they think they will hoover up all their votes. It's actually very unfair because the vast majority will not be working so will not be paying any tax or national insurance so why should they get a vote, ie have a say on public spending? They are bound to vote for a party who promises free services for this that and the other as they are not contributing.

[THECORBYLOON]

OG, the Electoral Commission says,

"Mental capacity
3.82 A lack of mental capacity is not a legal incapacity to vote: persons who
meet the other registration qualifications are eligible for registration regardless of
their mental capacity. For more information please see our separate guidance
note for EROs in England and Wales and in Scotland on managing the
registration process in the case of individuals who may need help registering
individually."

[Islay]

kvalidir @1445 for best answer!

[Peter Pedant]

so pensioners shouldnt have a vote because they are non contributory overall - even tho they may have in previous years

this is chocco box politics - the one who wins offers the most inducements.... could be I suppose

[naomi24]

Islay, kvalidir says //as for 'left wing teachers' that's a fairy tale dreamed up by aging right wingers//

… but as someone who was home-schooled she doesn't know what's taught in mainstream schools.

I don't think lowering the voting age to 16 is a good idea.

[Islay]

//I don't think lowering the voting age to 16 is a good idea//
Doesn't surprise me at all!!
Are you saying because she is home schooled she cannot have experiences through friends and family that are taught in mainstream schools?

[THECORBYLOON]

NAOMI, would someone who last had any involvement in education forty or fifty year ago be more aware of what is taught in 2017?

[Old_Geezer]

Thanks Corby. If this 2 year old article is still correct, those with a mental disability affecting their judgement need to be lucid at the time of voting. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/generalelection/general-election-2015-explained-who-can-vote-whos-excluded-and-does-the-queen-get-to-have-her-say-10183009.html

[THECORBYLOON]

That should be "involvement in mainstream education..."

[naomi24]

Islay, we can all listen to what other people say but that doesn’t mean what they’re saying is accurate.

THE CORBYLOON, I don’t think it is just the ‘aging’, as kvalidir puts it, who oppose this.

[Islay]

//Islay, we can all listen to what other people say but that doesn’t mean what they’re saying is accurate. //

Oh good that means we can stop listening to you then?

[naomi24]

Islay, listening to me was never compulsory.

[THECORBYLOON]

Did the sky fall in when the voting age dropped from twenty-one to eighteen in 1970?

[naomi24]

THE CORBYLOON, No, but in 1970, most 18 year olds had some experience of the real world having, for two years, been part of the country’s workforce

[modeller]

It has been found most people under the age of 25 largely mirror the views of their parents. They lack the experience of life to make an informed choice . However the younger they are the more idealistic they are which causes them to see the apparent merits of socialism.

[THECORBYLOON]

NAOMI, are you proposing a qualifying period including a spell of employment or a completion of a life-experience questionnaire before being eligible to vote?

In 1970 the school-leaving age was fifteen so even those under age eighteen could have had a few years' experience of the big bad world.

[ToraToraTora]

no, if anything the age should be rasied

[New Judge]

"...would someone who last had any involvement in education forty or fifty year ago be more aware of what is taught in 2017?"

I would. As I have explained in the past I have sat in on many a classroom sessions (probably last time about six years ago). I have a very good idea what is taught in schools.

But anyway this is getting silly. It is obvious that an age limit must apply to voting (the alternative being one-day old babies being taken to the polling station to mark a cross somewhere). If lowering it to sixteen is a good idea, why not fourteen, or twelve? Increasingly young people's childhood is being extended. It now takes until they are 18 to educate them sufficiently, there are moves to raise the age of criminal responsibility from 10 because at that age they may not know right from wrong. The voting age should stay as it is.

[naomi24]

THECORBYLOON, //In 1970 the school-leaving age was fifteen so even those under age eighteen could have had a few years' experience of the big bad world. //

But those under 18 now don't have experience of the big bad world and that's precisely my point. Thank you.

[Deskdiary]

Islay - "kvadlier @ 14.45 for best answer"

Just as well it's not your thred then.

[New Judge]

From another (unrelated) question:

http://www.theanswerbank.co.uk/Law/Question1553383.html

“…as at 16 he's still classed as a child in Scotland.”

So they give children the vote in Scotland.