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Sweet 16 and too immature to vote

Section: Features Edition: 1 - All-round Country

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Rudd would like to lower the voting age but he is playing with fire,

warns Kenneth Wiltshire

ALWAYS beware of governments that try to tinker with the voting

franchise. Beware especially of the Rudd government's efforts to

lower the voting age to 16.

Does anyone seriously think that 16-year-olds have the maturity to

vote on matters that will materially affect the nation? Not the rest of

the world, apparently, because in almost all countries the universal

voting age is 18. In Japan it is 20, in Malaysia 21, in Singapore 21,

and in some African, Arab and Pacific countries, 21 or 25. In a

number of counties the voting age for election to upper houses is

set at 25. In the US a candidate for the Senate must be 30.

, The voting age was lowered from 21 to 18 in Australia and the US

only to accompany conscription for the. Vietnam War. The US

changed its voting age to 18 by the 26th amendment to the

constitution, overruling the verdict of the courts, which had favoured

retaining the 21 age limit. It was the Vietnam War that produced the

popular groundswell with the slogan "Old enough to fight, old

enough to vote". The age for the military draft had been lowered to

18 for World War II.

Historically, when the right to vote was won in almost all democratic

systems, the voting age was set at 21, which was also the age of

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majority. In many democracies the voting age, like many other

aspects of universal suffrage, was considered of such importance

that it was enshrined in the constitution to prevent capricious

governments from changing it to suit themselves.

This is exactly what the Rudd government is trying to do, and since

the Australian voting age is not contained in the Constitution, it

canbe changed by mere legislation.

Labor constantly outpolls the Coalition in the younger age groups

and so it comes as no surprise that this attempt is being made.

Despite all the sweet talk from Special Minister of State Joe Ludwig

in his discussion paper to the contrary, this is nothing less than a

cynical attempt to manipulate the franchise to suit the Labor Party.

The Greens will back Labor in the Senate because the bulk of their

support also comes from the teenage population, not least because

of their lax policy on drugs and social practices, as well as their

professed commitment to protecting the environment. The Coalition

will inevitably oppose it, so the fate of this measure in the Senate

will rest with independent Nick Xenophon and Family First's Steve

Fielding. If Fielding has any political astuteness he will quickly

realise the threat this measure poses to family values. To date the

Australian public has responded to the proposal with a gaping

yawn, not realising what is atstake.

It may be true that young people are maturing biologically at an

earlier age but does this mean that they are also maturing mentally

at the same pace? Do we really want young people driving cars,

taking out loans and engaging in a wide range of commercial and

social behaviours at 16 as if they were adults? Because that is what

would immediately follow the lowering of the voting age to 16.

Even our film censorship laws recognise 18 as a benchmark, yet

these too would be under threat from a lowering of the voting age.

You can hear it now from all those purveyors of misery in our

community: "old enough to vote, old enough to view violence and

pornography, old enough to get into irretrievable debt, old enough

to gamble your life away, old enough to smash a car and kill others

on the roads, old enough to drink to a state of inebriation, old

enough to shoot guns (as the Shooters Party in NSW has been

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advocating in the state's upper house).

There will always be debate about the age at which people become

mature and all individuals are different. But in Australia we have a

special responsibility on this issue as we are one of the very few

countries with compulsory voting. The advocates of 16-year-old

voting invariably argue that it would encourage greater civic

interest and participation among teenagers, but there is little

evidence to support this. (It is reminiscent of those who advocate

lowering the age of consent; they often have some vested interest.)

Indeed, although we have compulsory voting, our schools' civics

education is poor and we do precious little to educate migrants in

the values, practices and objectives of our democratic system.

We have young people leaving school at 15 who are poorly

prepared because of the abysmal career and personal counselling

in our schools; we have students rocking up to university at the age

of 17, even 16, totally unprepared for all the conceptual demands

that tertiary education requires. In North America and most of

Europe they would not exit the education system until 20 or 21,

after several years of college or work experience to prepare them

for life and the workplace. In Australia we have a very cavalier

approach to our young people, throwing them in the deep end to

sink or swim at far too young an age. Because of the structure of

our school systems and curriculum, at the age of about 13 they

have to choose either a literate of numerate educational pathway,

and at the age of about 15 they have to choose an academic or

vocational one. This is far too young for such momentous

decisions.

There are some decisions in life that require a certain degree of

maturity and 16 is far too young to be making them. Society should

not force this on our young people; it should put all its efforts into

preparing them for these challenges.

Voting is a very responsible matter in any democracy and should

not be treated lightly. Being a citizen is the same. The Rudd

government, with its proposals, is treating both matters with

contempt purely for political gain as it tries to entrench itself in

power for the long term.

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Ludwig should be ashamed of himself and stop all his false rhetoric

and spin.

He is playing with fire purely for the political gain of his own party

and not that of thenation.

Kenneth Wiltshire, a professor in the University of Queensland's

business school, was a founding member of the board of the

Constitutional Centenary Foundation and is the author of many

works on civics education.

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Four voting age

Simon Deschamps

9-12 minutes

nada hould I the

With a petition on the House of Commons website and the

submission of a written brief to the Special Committee on Electoral

Reform, the French Canadian Youth Federation hopes to convince

politicians to lower the legal voting age.

The French Canadian Youth Federation have taken action to reduce the

legal voting age in Canada to 16-years-old. [Photo © Federation de la

jeunesse canadienne-franr;aise (FJCF)J

With the ongoing activities of the House of Commons Special

Committee on Electoral Reform, the French Canadian Youth

Association, also known as la Federation de la jeunesse

canadienne-franqaise (FJCF), is pushing at the federal level what

its New Brunswick chapter pushed for many years provincially:

lowering the legal voting age from 18 to 16. This would require the

Government of Canada to modify Article 3 of the Canada Elections

Act, which sets the minimum age to be a voter. The group also

recommends the federal government work with its provincial and

territorial partners to create a civic education program in high

schools for the students prior to their first federal voting experience.

As of Nov. 10, 308 people had signed the petition.

The idea to push the issue at the federal level came from the last

Pan-Canadian forum of the organization, held in 2015, when the

youth identified key priorities for the French-Canadian youth,

explains the president of the association Justin Johnson.

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This association is not the only one to push in this direction. NOP

MP Don Davies of Vancouver Kingsway introduced a private

member's bill (C-213) on Jan. 28, which would amend the Canada

Elections Act. This is the third time Davies has introduced the bill.

Davies says he first got the idea after the 2008 election, when only

58.8 per cent of registered voters cast a ballot. It was the lowest

turnout in Canada history.

"It got me thinking how we can engage our citizens in a more

democratic way and get them interested in our election," says

Davies. "At the same time, I spent time with high school students,

and I was very impressed with these people's interests and ideas.

So, why are we preventing young Canadians from having their say

on the government they want?"

Student Josh Robillard thinks 16-year-old such as himself should

be able to participate in democratic processes that influence policy

making that affect students. He said 16-year-old are entrusted the

safety of others on the roads, responsability that should be

extended to civic engagement.

Davies also advocates for a good civic curriculum in Canadian

schools, in combination with lowering the voting age to "improve the

states of our democracy and to be a more democratic country."

The previous bill didn't pass as the process stop at second reading.

The Conservative government had "absolutely no plans to lower the

voting age," mentioned the former Minister of State for Democratic

Reform, Stephen Fletcher. Currently, the bill C-213 passed the first

reading.

Here are four key reasons why voting age should be lowered to 16.

FJCF propose changes to Arlic/e 3 of the Canada Elections Act enabling

16-year-olds the right to vote. [Photo © Brittany van Frankfoorl]

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1) It might encourage a higher voter turnout

Young voters aged 18 to 24 have the lowest participation rate of

any age group, says Anna Esselment, professor of political science

at Waterloo University. "The 16- and 17-year-olds have a higher

level of voting turnout in countries where the vote at 16 is allowed"

she says, referring to electoral statistics from Argentina, Austria,

Brazil, Ecuador and Nicaragua, where people can start voting at the

age of 16. According to the Swedish-based Institute for Democracy

and Electoral Assistance, Brazil and Austria has a voter turnout of

80 per cent. In Brazil, voting is mandatory between the ages of 18

and 69 years, but people aged of 16 and 17 can choose to cast a

ballot or not.

"They live at home so their parents could drive them to the poll.

They are easier to catch because they are far less mobile than the

18 to 24 (group), who attend universities in other cities."

The former chief electoral officer of Elections Canada, Jean-Pierre

Kingsley, also thinks it would benefit the electoral system if young

voters could have the chance to participate while they are at

school.

Jean-Pierre Kingsley, former chief electoral officer of Elections Canada,

said the most critical question to consider is the maturity of youth and their

democratic understanding. [Photo © Brittany van Frankfoort]

"There would be awareness raised on the importance of voting,

because it would be based on the reality," he says. He adds, that

the electoral simulations held in high schools, run in parallel to the

real election, bring positive participation results.

However, according to Carleton University political science

professor Jon Pammett there is no guarantee those numbers will

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transfer in the reality and that it will increase the voting turnout. In

fact, he thinks that lowering the voting age could negatively impact

the voting turnout rates, that are already low. The decline in voter

turnout in Canada is due to lower participation of young people.

Lowering the voting age, would accentuate this trend.

2) Young people would adopt the habit of voting

The experts interviewed are unanimous: If the voting age is lowered

to 16, in combination with efficient civic education, young people

will take the habit of voting for the rest of their life.

Experts agree that a reduced voting age would foster life-long civic

involvement. [Photo © Brittany van Frankfoort]

"When you vote at your very first election that you are eligible there

is likelihood that you'll continue to do that. It's possible to capture

young Canadians into voting at a younger age and they stay as

voters," says Esselment. Pammett says that if the young people

don't start at their first eligible election, and miss few opportunities

to cast their votes, the chances are less that they'll pick up the habit

later on.

A study conducted by Jon Pammett and Lawrence LeDuc, a

professor of politcal science at University of Toronto, had shown

that about 26.6 percent of non-voters in the 2000 election were

"very likely" to vote in the next election. Meanwhile, 87 .2 percent of

the 2000 voters were "very likely" to cast a ballot in the next

election.

3) Expand the notion of democracy

"At the very core of our democracy, we want our representatives to

be very inclusive and more citizens to take part in the process,"

says Esselment, as the OECD countries' voting turnout continues

to fall.

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Don Davies agrees with that notion of democracy expansion. He

said that the 16-year-olds are taxed when they work but they don't

have their say on how the tax-dollars are spent, referring to the

American revolution slogan: "No taxation without representation."

He would like to see young people have a voice in our democratic

system.

4) The teenagers of today are engaged in their world and want

to make a difference

Kingsley and Davies talked about a generation that is connected to

what is happening in the world, and that they are better informed

than the previous generation. Moreover, young people today are

"not jaded by cynicism. They are optimistic about the future. They

look on the world with hope and bright eyes," says the Vancouver

Kingsway MP.

Josh Robillard says he thinks he and other 16-year-olds should have a say

in policies that affect them. [Photo © Brittany van Frankfoort]

Justin Johnson believes that youth have the right to participate in

the democratic system for the common good, and being heard by

politicians. "The young people of 16 years old have the will to act

for the benefit of the family, the community, the province or the

country. They are able to fully participate for the common good," he

says, adding that a good idea if it comes from a 16-year-old or a

senior, is still a good idea.

Not a priority at the moment

With the recommendation of the Special Committee on Electoral

Reform expected on Dec. 1, there isn't much optimism around the

idea of lower the voting age.

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Jean-Pierre Kingsley, former chief electoral officer of Elections Canada and

Don Davies, Vancouver Kingsway MP, agree that youth are better informed

and engaged in politics than the previous generation. [Photo © Elections

Canada]

"At the moment there is no ground support for that in Canada. We

have to grapple what we will do of our electoral system first," says

Esselment. Kingsley said the Committee is dealing with too many

other issues to consider lowering the voting age right away. "What

will be done with the voting sytem? Should the vote be mandatory?

Should we have electronic voting? All this creates a heavy

program. The debate on lowering the voting age, could easily

restart once we know what will be done with the voting system

reform. We have to expect all kinds of pitfalls, to some people

opposing to the idea," he predicts.

The French Canadian Youth Federation hopes for a proposition for

civic education. "If a recommendation is done on civic education

that would be beneficial according to our young members," says

Johnson. The organization promised, no matter what the outcome

will be, to continue raising awareness for lowering the voting age to

16.

Next Story

Fare enough: Low-income transit pass in Ottawa draft budget

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Why n h n h ul I r th n 1

7-8 minutes

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Federico Vargas

Why and how Canada should lower the voting age to 16

Few today would question the right of 18-year-olds to vote in

elections. Until as recently as 1971 however, Canadians younger

than 21 years of age were barred from casting a ballot for federal

elections. A survey conducted in 1958 also found that 71.6 percent

of respondents were opposed to lowering the voting age to 18 from

21. Social norms and attitudes are in a constant state of flux, but

decisive shifts in national public opinion often take years, with

legislative change acting as a catalyst. In the current context of

rapidly falling youth political participation, lowering the voting age to

16 could increase political engagement among youth, strengthen

democracy by boosting voter turnout in the long term, and bring

youth issues closer to the forefront.

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Since the 1980s, a combination of falling participation rates and the

fact that younger voters make up a smaller and smaller proportion

of voters has meant that the political force of youth is in

comparative decline.

tST!MATW VOTER TURNOUT !N CANADA !:lY SHECHD

AG!; GROUPS HWM 3-965 TO 20DO

Figure 1- Figure prepared by Emmanuel Preville of the Library of Parliament based on Figure

1, "Reported voter turnout in federal elections by age group, 1965-2000," in Margaret Adsett,

"Change in Political Era and Demographic Weight as Explanations of Youth

"disenfranchisement" in federal elections.

The 2015 federal election saw a surge in youth participation, and

yet, it followed in a larger trend where YQ_LJth voter turnout has

usually been at least 20 percent lower than that of older Canadians.

Figure 2- Graph Generated using Data from.Elections Canada __ on Voter _ _Turnout_byAge_and Sex

This is particularly worrisome if one considers that young people

will increasingly make up a smaller share of the total population.

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The consequences of youth disengagement are far-reaching. In

the short term, governments become less representative and may

increasingly favour older voters in their policies. In the long term,

low participation rates among today's young people could pose a

considerable threat to the integrity of Canadian democracy. Low

voter participation rates drain legitimacy of governments in a

vicious spiral in which poor turnout feeds skepticism towards

democracy, and vice versa.

Low youth voter turnout is likely equally pronounced at provincial

and municipal elections, though age-specific data is scarce.

Nonetheless, data from Quebec show similar falling rates of voter

turnout in its provincial elections among youth aged 18-34 since

1985.

Q,UEBEC; VOTER TUR!IH)UT RATES FOR TOTAL

POPULATION AND FOR YOUTH AGED 18-34

periode_..1985-2014" by the Chaire de Recherche sur la Democratie et les Institutions

Parlementaires

Until recently, a "life cycle effect", or the idea that young people's

propensity to vote increased as they aged, was used to explain

lower turnout rates among youth. Recent studies indicate that this

may no longer be the case. Young people are not only participating

less than their elders, but their willingness to participate also

appears to be declining over timEz. The result is that Canada's

arguably most educated generation is also increasingly

disenchanted with the current political system. Youth are not

disengaged with political life per se, but rather that they feel that

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formal political institutions are failing to listen to their needs.

How lowering the voting age could help

To strengthen Canadian democracy, governments should rebuild

young Canadians' trust in and attachment to formal political

institutions and practices. Young people do not get enough

exposure to the political process in ways that matter to them.

Reducing the voting age to 16 could increase future and current

engagement to Canada's political system by giving young

Canadians a meaningful voice at the table at a crucial juncture in

their lives. After all, the most visible, and often most meaningful

political engagement for most Canadians is casting a ballot.

Research shows that voting habits are formed early in life and that

those who do not vote early on may never pick up the habit.

Why lower the voting age to 16?

Lowering the voting age to 16 would be no arbitrary choice. From

an implementation standpoint, a major advantage is that most 16

and 17-year-olds still reside at home, meaning that voter

registration would be similar to that of their parents or could be

done at schools. Simultaneously, Canada could bring back the

vouching option removed in Bill C-23 to allow teachers and

principals to vouch for their students on Election Day.

Lowering the voting age should not be seen as an easy solution but

rather as part of a larger initiative in partnership with other levels of

government. For instance, provincial governments should

introduce and expand class time devoted to civics and political

institutions as youth progress though compulsory education. With

some creativity and little cost to schools, students could come to

see these class discussions as not merely abstract and

inconsequential but as having a direct bearing on elections.

Election Day could become an exciting day in schools where

students see their peers and teachers publicly exercise their right to

vote.

Impact

Lowering the voting age would send a strong message to youth that

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their opinions matter and that the electoral system is not stacked

against them. Lured by the possibility of obtaining extra votes,

political candidates may be tempted to increase their presence at

high schools and other spaces frequented by youth. The result

could be completely new spaces for political discussion and for

youth civic engagement. As parties come to see the potential of

speaking to a large and concentrated pool of voters, they may even

incorporate more meaningful youth policies in their platforms.

Canada is not alone in its struggle to engage young citizens to vote;

it could learn from the experience of other jurisdictions. Austria's

decision to lower the voting age to 16 has yielded some positive

results: data from two recent regional elections show that voter

turnout among 16-17-year-olds reached levels close to the national

turn-out rate.

Lastly, for those who argue that 16-year-olds are not sufficiently

experienced or mentally unfit to vote, they should remember that

similar arguments were once made against granting women, ethnic

minorities and Indigenous people the right to vote in Canada.

Federico Vargas graduated from the University of Toronto's School

of Public Policy and Governance in 2017 with a Master of Public

Policy degree. He previously completed an Honours Bachelor of

Arts degree in International Relations and French at the University

of Toronto and holds a certificat d'etudes politiques from the lnstitut

d'etudes politiques d'Aix-en Provence (Sciences Po Aix). His areas

of interest include immigration policy, international trade, education

policy, cities and foreign policy

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Let us move forward together for democracy. We are at a

crossroads of democracy which will determine out future.

It is time we progress in democracy of government of the people by

the people, and to decide if the time is upon us to lower the voting

age in municipal elections to that of 16.

We are all recognizing the fact that in our modern age of the

Internet, mass communications, etc., that along with our enhanced

education opportunities, that the young adults of today are more

open-minded as to what is going on in the world around them.

Especially in their local community. It is at the local community or

municipal level that our young adults of today are most affected.

It is only fair that they should have the opportunity to vote for who.

would be representing the electorate in various boards of

education. It is also fair that they should have a say as to how they

would like their local community to develop.

They are certainly more aware of environmental issues and job

issues as related to community prosperity and education

opportunities.

We trust our young adults to make and serve food in our

restaurants. We trust them to work in our stores and to work as

volunteers at various agencies and institutions.

We allow them to have a drivers license at age 16, if they pass their

written and road test. They advance in their license through

different levels and stages.

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We, therefore, should consider voting at the basic entry level of

democracy to be that of local or municipal government. It is only fair

and logical that since we want greater participation in democracy as

representative of the will of the people, to now make the

enfranchisement of 16 and 17 year olds to be available at this first

level.

This issue of the representative democracy for 16 and 17 year olds

is one of the final frontiers of the centuries-old civil rights movement

which enfranchised non-whites and women to be entitled to vote in

North America.

If we love and trust our brothers, sisters, cousins, sons and

daughter, now is the time to act upon this issue.

Let us do what is right for fairness and democracy.

Failure to do so will mean at some point in the future, people will

look back upon our lack of support as failing democracy and

reason.

We need to make the province aware of our opinion on this issue.

We are a progressive community. Let us move forward and do what

is right.

Let us act now to preserve the social and civil rights of our families.

Some interesting facts to consider are as follows:

In Ontario, the minimum age to operate and drive agriculture

equipment on a public road is 16. This includes your smaller four

wheel tractors to your larger eight- and 10-wheel tractors.

To operate and get a license in Ontario for motor powered boats,

depending on their size and other features, are 12 years, 14 years

and 16 years.

At age 13, you can start to learn to fly a glider and go solo at age

15 and get your Transport Canada license at age 16.

In Ontario, you can start learning to fly a non-commercial turbo prop

airplane at age 15, solo at age 16 and at 17, get your Transport

Canada license to fly a recreation plane along with one passenger.

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Considering this government ordained level of responsibility and

potential disasters (which rarely happen), I would constructively

submit, no, actually demand we treat our young adults with the

respect they have both earned and deserve.

Petition the province to lower the voting age in municipal election

to a fair entry level age of 16 years old.

Democracy demands representation when it has been earned and

they have earned it.

Michael R. Loker

Cambridge

Copyright of Cambridge Times (ON) is the property of Cambridge

Times. The copyright in an individual article may be maintained by

the author in certain cases. Content may not be copied or emailed

to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's

express written permission. However, users may print, download, or

email articles for individual use. Source: Cambridge Times (ON),

09/24/2014

Item: 11C4CAM2014092430686686

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3 minutes

~---------------------

The sooner people vote, the better

Section: News, Pg. 08a

It's never too early to vote. Early voting is good for democracy. It

lowers the barriers to participation. It increases turnout. And it

prevents voters from getting discouraged by the deluge of negative

ads during the last few weeks of the election.

In the very best circumstances, 60% of voting-age Americans

exercise their right to vote in presidential elections, and only 40%, if

we're lucky, in midterms. Research has consistently shown that if

we make voting easier, we can increase the number of people who

vote. Convenient voting methods such as early voting work and

should be adopted broadly.

In our increasingly polarized society, only slivers of the voting

public remain undecided six weeks out from the election. Most

people have made up their minds and are simply waiting for

Election Day to cast their ballots, so why make them wait, stand in

line at the polling place and give up their valuable time in order to

participate?

With the only option being to get up early, take time off of work and

sacrifice hours with their families, too many people choose instead

to skip voting altogether. In fact, people should be encouraged, not

just permitted, to vote early. Casting an early ballot can provide a

convenient alternative for those who are too busy on Election Day.

That undertaking can reduce lines and make it easier for those who

choose to vote the traditional way.

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Beyond convenience, early voting helps prevent fatigue induced by

the flood of negativity that occurs about now every election year. By

October, voters typically grow weary of attack ads, an attitude that

only gets worse with time. Negativity from both sides spurs people

to become more cynical about the whole process; this, in turn,

makes them less likely to participate and causes them to wonder

whether voting even matters.

Why shouldn't we let people cast their votes before the inevitable

negative advertising wars begin? Why shouldn't we let people avoid

the lines of a seemingly arbitrary-selected day? And why shouldn't

we do whatever we can to encourage people to participate in

selecting our leaders ?

Early voting is good for democracy, and we should allow anyone

who so desires to vote up to six weeks before the election.

Chad Murphy is a political scientist at the University of Mary

Washington in Fredericksburg, Va.

(c) USA TODAY, 2012

Source: USA Today, OCT 01, 2012

Item: JOE051510599512

2017-12-12, 4:54 PM

1 n 1m m€¦ · voting age is 18. in japan it is 20, in malaysia 21, in singapore 21, and in some...

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