San Francisco may soon allow 16-year-olds to vote in local elections

[BUtterfield 8 41,818]

1 minute ago, PartySick said:

I'm not sure why everyone's saying this is a bad idea  if they're too dumb to vote at 16 then they're too dumb to vote at 18

Right like 2 more years make a difference 

[PartySick 172,514]

Just now, Blue Lagoon said:

Right like 2 more years make a difference 

And the only 16 year olds that would be voting are the ones that care enough to register and show up at the polls. It's not like this makes it mandatory for them to vote or something

[Lemonky 671]

2 minutes ago, PartySick said:

I'm not sure why everyone's saying this is a bad idea  if they're too dumb to vote at 16 then they're too dumb to vote at 18

Did you know that most people start making political opinion at the age of 16? Also, in my country, political theory is taught at school at the age of 17-18. Those two years make a difference in amount of knowledge, but also could prevent parents forcing their child to vote.

[PartySick 172,514]

1 minute ago, Lemonky said:

Did you know that most people start making political opinion at the age of 16? Also, in my country, political theory is taught at school at the age of 17-18. Those two years make a difference in amount of knowledge, but also could prevent parents forcing their child to vote.

Then teach them earlier

[Lemonky 671]

Just now, PartySick said:

Then teach them earlier

Agree on that tho. Politics should be introduced as soon as we start school, and as we get old we should learn about some serious topics.

[PartySick 172,514]

Just now, Lemonky said:

Agree on that tho. Politics should be introduced as soon as we start school, and as we get old we should learn about some serious topics.

Yup. Besides, most of my peers in middle and high school at least knew enough to prefer Obama over McCain and Romney  formal education would help people pick which issues are their issues too.

I imagine any 16 year old that takes the time to register and show up will know enough to make a somewhat informed decision.

[NFRatwell 23,290]

1 minute ago, PartySick said:

Then teach them earlier

Again y’all keep ignoring the conversation about how if 16 year olds are old enough to vote in elections, what stops them from being old enough for everything else? Should 16 be the age of consent too? Should 16 year olds be allowed to marry, get drafted, quit school, etc.? California can’t even trust people with alcohol until they’re 21 or give them the age of consent until they’re 18. What’s they’re doing is nothing short of stretching the rules when it benefits. 

[Lemonky 671]

2 minutes ago, PartySick said:

I imagine any 16 year old that takes the time to register and show up will know enough to make a somewhat informed decision.

I hope so! But I fear parents forcing them, or voting after being influenced by populist for a short time. I used to support some dumb****ery when I was child and not informed 

[MJHolland 12,725]

27 minutes ago, NFRockwell said:

Don’t believe this is what allowing 16 year old to vote is all about. Liberals are just trying to get more votes and pushing this agenda about “they’re our future” bs. California’s age of consent is 18 yet all of the sudden a 16 year old can make political decisions?  Tell me, do y’all think 16 year olds are adults able to make decisions like that? 

Y'all this is about school board members and the county librarian, not Congress or the Presidency.

Local elections, please read. 

Kids need to practice voting early to become lifelong voters. 

And I'm not going to engage in bad faith arguments like "I hate democracy I want to ruin it." 

 

[MJHolland 12,725]

6 minutes ago, NFRockwell said:

Again y’all keep ignoring the conversation about how if 16 year olds are old enough to vote in elections, what stops them from being old enough for everything else? Should 16 be the age of consent too? Should 16 year olds be allowed to marry, get drafted, quit school, etc.? California can’t even trust people with alcohol until they’re 21 or give them the age of consent until they’re 18. What’s they’re doing is nothing short of stretching the rules when it benefits. 

Maturity between 16-18 is pretty much negligible. 

Alcohol is restricted to 21 because it can damage your brain permanently if you drink too because before the age of ~25. Not an applicable example here. 

[gag 22,449]

Everyone in here acting like they’re letting 16 y/os choose the Supreme Court nomination 

[NFRatwell 23,290]

I’ll just say that 16 is too young to decide someone’s job and impact in society. Again, these people can’t even trust them with influencing themselves legally. How are they going to allow them to influence others on a legal level? But I guess we all have our morals (as we can see in the thread). Just glad I’m not living in San Francisco and dealing with this. 

[blankpaper 21]

4 minutes ago, NFRockwell said:

Again, these people can’t even trust them with influencing themselves legally. How are they going to allow them to influence others on a legal level?

And yet how often are 16 year olds tried as adults?

[SonOfAphrodite 1,838]

So many people on this site are ridiculous this is one local election not the presidency. Those of you talking about a leftist agenda when San Francisco is liberal paradise and again it’s a local election 

Adults already aren’t voting so bringing in a fresh demographic and implementing the idea of civic duty at a young age is good! If you’re so against their vote having power how about get the adults to participate and they won’t have leverage. 
The dramatics of many members on here. 

If anything there should be an age cap because a lot of older adults act like teens. 

[Guest]

As an 18 year old, I had the right to vote, and I voted randomly, and Im not kidding, I had no idea what to do, so I voted randomly a candidate then once it was the finalists, I voted what my parents told me to vote. That's all im gonna say