All American citizens have the right to vote, correct? Wrong! Over 26% of American citizens are denied the right to vote ... solely on account of their age. This is not democracy. This is not equality. This is not right!
When the Constitution of the United States was written, very few people had the right to vote. At the ratification in 1788, only 21-year-old property owning white males had the right to vote. Later, all 21-year-old white males were given the right to vote. The 14th Amendment redefined citizenship to include all persons either naturalized or born in the United States. With the passage of the 15th Amendment in 1870, all males given the right to vote, regardless of race. Fifty years later, the 19th Amendments gave women the right to vote. Until 1971, only people over the age of 21 could vote. During the Vietnam War, due to protests and citizen action, the 26th Amendment was ratified, lowering the voting age to 18. The argument at that time was that if 18-, 19-, and 20-year-olds were old enough to die for their country, shouldn't they at least have the right to vote for the politicians that are sending them to their deaths.
Twenty-six percent of the American population is under the age of 18. Twenty-six percent of the American population is denied the fundamental right to determine the rules they must live under. That is wrong! That is undemocratic! That is un-American! Justice and democracy are at the forefront of American society -- at least in theory. For too long equality and justice have been at the backburner of society, ignored by politicians and people alike. It's time to return to the ideologies and principles that this nation has lived by. It's time to allow all American citizens the right to vote.
YouthSpeak, founded in March 1997 by high school student Avi Hein, is America's first and only organization dedicated to extending the right to vote to people under 18. Since March 1998 and until Election Day of 1998, YouthSpeak will be involved in series of voting rights protests called Operation Register.
Taxation without representation exists in America. It existed in 1776, when the colonists fought against the British control, and it exists today -- in the late 20th century. Young people are taxed, all through sales taxes, many through income taxes, property taxes for those who own property, and a myriad of other taxes.
Most youths are law-abiding. Young people obey laws that they have no say in making. That is wrong! Rebecca Tilsen, 14, of Minneapolis testified in a Minnesota House subcommittee in 1991 that, "if 16-year-olds are old enough to drink the water polluted by the industries that you regulate, if 16-year-olds are old enough to breathe the air ruined by garbage burners that government built, if 16-year-olds are old enough to walk on the streets made unsafe by terrible drugs and crime policies, if 16-year-olds are old enough to live in poverty in the richest country in the world, if 16-year-olds are old enough to get sick in a country with the worst public health-care programs in the world, and if 16-year-olds are old enough to attend school districts that you underfund, than 16-year-olds are old enough to play a part in making them better."
Some people believe that young people are too immature and incompetent to vote. Besides the fact that there is no competency test for voting and incompetents rarely vote, that same excuse was used to bar women and minorities from voting. Similarly, some people believe that kids will vote the same way as their parents. Besides being patronizing and demeaning, that claim is simply false. When women were fighting for the right to vote it was alleged that they would vote the same way as their husbands. When women were granted the right to vote that allegation was proven false, and similar allegations would be proven false if youth were granted the right to vote. Many historians have concluded that, as the Michigan City (IN) News-Dispatch (5/15/98) found, "the excuses for keeping the vote from young people are the same ones that kept women and minorities disenfranchised for more than a century."
Join YouthSpeak and restore democracy to America. YouthSpeak is the only national organization working for youth suffrage. Working with YouthSpeak is the most effective way to get the vote. Remember: The voting age must be lowered if America is to be a free and democratic nation and youth need to be granted their human right to take part in the business of their own nation by being allowed to vote.
YouthSpeak can be reached through email at youthspeak@oblivion.net or on the web at oblivion.net/youthspeak/.