This week, B.C. Green Party leader Andrew Weaver caused a stir with his bill to lower the voting age in British Columbia to 16.
A story about the proposed change posted to the Western News website and Facebook page garnered quite a bit of comment from readers, most of whom are decidedly against the idea.
Responses ranged from “They would vote the way their teacher tells them,” to “No, I think they are too young at 16 and still too impressionable. I think it should be 19, legal age in our province. Hopefully at that age most have graduated, are into secondary education and are starting to make conscious decisions based on their own political beliefs,” and “Need I remind you this is the tide pod eating generation.”
But there were some others that give one reason to think seriously about making the change: “Yes, I think it would encourage young people to get involved and start the habit of voting. These people are at an age where they are studying politics in school and are often more informed than a lot of people ‘of age.’”
In truth, many people who are old enough to vote now cast their ballots for the nuttiest of reasons.
Maybe they liked a candidate’s hair, or it’s the name on the ballot they actually recognize. People vote for all sorts of reasons that aren’t necessarily the sober, serious look at issues and implications for the future we might wish them to be. Would 16 year olds be significantly different in this respect?
It is important to make our youth feel enfranchised and get them interested in democratic participation. This idea isn’t as crazy as it might appear at first.