Mike de Jong Proposes Lowering Voting Age
Mike de Jong has promised to lower the voting age in British Columbia from 18 to 16 years of age.
“Year after year voter turn-out has declined and among young people, participation is even worse,” said de Jong. “Young people can drive at 16, they can enter the military and be raised to adult court, we give them these responsibilities so why not take the next logical step and let them be full participants.”
“Political parties already allow 14 year olds to vote in leadership contests so voting for government at 16 is not that big a leap,” added de Jong. “if we want to engage young people what better way than to allow students in their graduating year to become full participants in the electoral process.”
To engage young people to think about the future of BC de Jong announced a video contest. The contest is for youth to produce a short video on what they would do as Premier of BC or on what matters most to them today. Two prizes of a $500 Canada Savings Bond will be awarded to the contest winners in each age category.
Entries will be uploaded to a new web site www.beheardbc.com
“Direct participation is the best way to renew democracy,” said de Jong. “We need to hear the fresh ideas that young people will bring about their future and the future of the province.”
De Jong says that if he is elected Premier of BC that he recommends the introduction of legislation to lower the voting age to 16. “As I go around the province, I will be listening to the reaction to this idea and asking young people to tell me what want they want BC to be.”
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I like this idea as I do not think there is any good reason why only age is used as limit to whether you vote or not. Frankly, having a say in government is much more important to someone that is 16 than someone that is 75. I know how much about politics my sons know and I am certain they are better prepared to make a decision at the ballot box than many adults. Certainly they contribute more to society than people that are imprisoned who are allowed to vote.
I have not heard a good argument for having a lower age limit to voting. 16 is a start, but I think it should be changed to 13 so that all youth go through at least one election before they leave school. I would then have a special advance poll at all high schools and defacto make it is an expected part of school. Getting the youth engaged and learning about it before they leave school should make voting more of a part of the culture.
I suspect my oldest son may join the BC Liberals just to support Mike de Jong on this issue. My second son, Benjamin, is still too young to vote in the Liberal leadership race as he will not be 14 till next summer. I may consider supporting Mike de Jong simply for raising this issue.
Ben has been frustrated for a few years that he is not allowed to vote even though he pays attention to politics. He went as far as to ask the leaders of the major federal party leaders about this in the last election. Only Jack Layton said the idea of lowering the age was a good idea, the other two fudged. Ben was 11 at the time. Ben says he would vote for the NDP if he could.
I am going to encourage all three boys to submit a video entry into the contest Mike de Jong is running where you say what they would do as premier.
I am listening to Christy Clark at the moment on CFAX and she is speaking in favour of the idea of lowering the voting age.
5 comments:
Sorry, this proposal is a bad idea on so many levels that it makes my head spin. Children do not make decisions for adults, period. I'm all for better and more engaging education about the political process and it sounds as if your children are well-raised, but I don't want them being a part of the political process that directly impacts my family. Sorry, but I don't and I suspect that I am not the only one who feels this way.
Voting is a right of a citizen, it is unfair of us to deny to some of the citizens.
We make no barriers to voting - you can be illiterate and in jail and you are allowed to vote even if you have no idea about anyone on the ballot.
Ultimately the youth have a much bigger stake in the political system than any adults do, it is not fair to exclude them.
"Ben says he would vote for the NDP if he could."
Why would Ben say that? At his age, what does he know about any political party or any politician? What would make up his mind about any of them?
This is my issue with lowering the voting age. Kids haven't really a clue about any of this. They still live at home, may have part-time jobs, have no knowledge of "issues" and would probably vote for the one who promised them the most free goodies - and not even realize there is no such thing as "free" when it comes to government and taxes.
Is not promising goodies what all politicians do in elections?
Adults are not expected to know anything about issues or have any rational reason for how they vote. It is not a valid argument to make about why kids should not be allowed to vote. The arguments made for why kids should not vote are the same reasons 100 years ago people said women should vote.
Within the context of the school system and social studies, most high school kids are better informed about politics than most adults in BC. We have had youth votes in high schools in BC for federal and provincial elections and they are capable in that venue of making a decision and voting.
The interesting thing about this proposal is that is coming from the Liberals and they are much less likely to benefit from this change than the NDP or the Greens.
I agree this is a great idea. I think there is a tendency, as we get older, to underestimate the thoughts and abilities of young adults.
When I was a teenager, I was lucky enough to get a couple of aviation scholarships through the air cadet program. So I was flying gliders when I was 15 years old. I was flying a Cessna 150 solo when I was 16. Why did the government feel I responsible enough to fly an airplane and get my pilot's license but not responsible enough to vote?
Lots of young adults can do amazing things. There's no reason why they should not be allowed to vote.
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