• Lembot_0004@discuss.online
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    9 hours ago

    Is it considered good? I don’t think many people at 16 really care about politics. But I am absolutely sure that there are many imbeciles at 16 who would vote even for a goat “just for giggles”.

    • JeeBaiChow@lemmy.world
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      6 minutes ago

      Dunno. Those older people don’t seem to be doing such a great job either. See the current us and, yes, Brexit, if it’s more relevant.

    • rumimevlevi@lemmings.worldOP
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      8 hours ago

      turnout of 16- to 17-year-olds in the Vienna elections was estimated to be 64.2% and thus significantly and substantially higher than the turnout of 18–20-year-olds, which was 56.3%. In Krems turnout of 16- and 17-year-olds was 56.3% and substantially higher than turnout of older first-time voters (46.3%)

      Are People More Inclined to Vote at 16 than at 18? Evidence for the First-Time Voting Boost Among 16- to 25-Year-Olds in Austria

    • Fabian@lemmy.zip
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      8 hours ago

      In Germany you can also vote in most elections at 16. And you can also vote for the European Parliament with 16. I think that is good, since the people who are currently young will be most affected by many of the decisions taken now. It also recognizes that the young people are also important and encourages political participation from a young age. And nobody is forced to vote, so people who are disinterested in politics will just note vote.

  • TheWeirdestCunt@lemmy.today
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    9 hours ago

    Idk how I feel about that, I feel like at 16 I didn’t understand anything about it well enough to make an informed decision but I sure as hell thought I did

    • njm1314@lemmy.world
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      2 hours ago

      You know John Adams once said that poor people, who didn’t own property, and women shouldn’t be allowed to vote because clearly they didn’t know enough about politics and would just be advised and do whatever those with property said.

    • PaleRider@feddit.uk
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      7 hours ago

      I’m 53 and a lot of my peers are fucking stupid but allowed to vote. On a radio station here in the UK the main argument against was that they would be influenced by tiktok…

      …as though people my age aren’t influenced by fucking Facebook.

    • Emily (she/her)@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      7 hours ago

      I had just turned 17 when the gay marriage plebiscite happened in Australia. I still remember the anger I felt at not being able to vote on my own right to marry.

      I was more naive then than I am now, but I also was at twenty.

    • scott@lemmy.org
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      8 hours ago

      I mean they also have the perspective of having more of a need to be concerned with the distant future than those who are currently represented.

    • rumimevlevi@lemmings.worldOP
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      8 hours ago

      Many experts assert that a 16-year-old has sufficient cognitive and critical thinking capacities to make political decisions independently.xi Giving adolescents a voice and allowing their participation in matters that affect them through voting would also help fulfill a developmental need for agency and autonomy, which are core developmental tasks in adolescence.

      LOWERING THE VOTING AGE: UNICEF Canada Policy Brief