Bill To Lower the Voting Age Via Constitutional Amendment Introduced in Oregon
Oregon legislators are considering a proposal that would lower the state’s voting age to 16.
Democratic state Sen. Shemia Fagan of Portland said the lower age is necessary because 16-year-olds are impacted by the government in major ways. She referenced the anti-gun activism of students from Parkland, Florida, as one of her reasons why 16-year-olds should vote.
“We heard from students who talked about the fact that they can drive like adults, that they have to pay taxes when they start working like adults, but they have no voice in actually participating in that process,” Fagan said, KPTV reported.
“It’s time to lower the voting age in Oregon and give young people a chance to participate at the ballot about decisions that affect their homes, their clean air and clean water future, their schools, and as we’ve seen, their very lives,” Fagan said, according to CNN.
“Sixteen-year-olds are subject to our criminal justice system,” Fagan said. “They are couch surfing with friends while their families experience homelessness and they’re begging us to take action to protect their future.”
Oregon may lower voting age to 16.
My feeling: this should happen everywhere.
There are far too many structural barriers to voting — earlier we get kids engaged the better.
If you’re old enough to drive and pay taxes, you should be old enough to vote. pic.twitter.com/1TABli1Hpg
— Jacob Soboroff (@jacobsoboroff) February 20, 2019
The proposal being considered by legislators would, if passed, result in a referendum being placed on the ballot for the 2020 elections.
The legislation would allow 16-year-olds to vote in all elections.
The proposal drew a thumbs down from Oregon Senate Republican leader Herman Baertschiger Jr.
“Sixteen-year-olds are too young to enlist in the military, too young to own firearms, too young to own property, too young to enter into legal contracts, and too young to get married. But they are old enough to vote? People are not legally considered adults in this country until they are 18 years old, and I believe they shouldn’t be able to vote until then either,” he said in a statement.
“This is nothing more than an attempt to expand the voter rolls to sway elections.”
is Oregon running out of stupid Democrat voters? why not lower the voting age to 5?
— Kristy Tweets (@tweets_kristy) February 19, 2019
Students who appeared at the media event to announce the proposal defended the idea.
“We need to be able to take our work to the ballot and protect the policies we’re working so hard to pass,” said South Salem High School senior Maria Torres, according to The Oregonian.
Samantha Gladu, executive director of a youth organization known as the Bus Project, said 16-year-olds can be informed voters.
“They know that we have to take action urgently on issues like education funding, health care, climate justice and gun violence in particular,” Gladu said. “I’m also hearing a lot from 16- and 17-year-olds about the need for criminal justice reform and the need to stop mass incarceration.”
Since 2003, 13 states have considered lowering the voting age. None of those proposals have passed, CBS reported.
The voting age nationally was reduced from 21 to 18 in 1971, during the Vietnam War, in response to a groundswell of complaints that young adults were able to be drafted but were not allowed to vote.
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