Should The Voting Age In Canada Be Lowered?
...ir lack of knowledge, who would they possibly vote for? One reasonable answer to this question would be that they would vote for whomever their parents vote for or maybe even jump the bandwagon and vote for the candidate they hear is leading the poles. Although this would increase the statistics for a higher election turnout, it would definitely not be in the best interests of the country as these votes would not be educated votes. Moreover, these young voters are more susceptible to the lies of the politicians because they do not comprehend what it requires for them to keep the many promises that they make. Even with the government’s recent implementation of the mandatory Civics course in grade 10, which was aimed to increase political awareness among these youths, it is still difficult for them to make sound judgments during the elections as this civics course does not encompass the current news and speeches made by each potential candidate. In other words, it is entirely up to the student himself whether they find the keep up with political news and events. On the contrary, one of the most common claims for lowering the voting is “… if young people are responsible enough to drive a car at 16, they should be allowed to vote” (Haid, p.35). However, at the young age of 16, regardless of levels of maturity or responsibility, it is apparent that they are still too young to fully understand the nature of politics and the significance of their right to vote. If 18 year olds don’t have sufficient knowledge of politics to make an educated and meaningful vote, then it is obvious that younger individuals will also possess similar flaws. Secondly, most youths seem to have a lack of interest with regards to politics. There are many reasons for this and many youths claim that the government does not represent them or cares about their views, needs and issues (Pammett & Leduc, p. 6). This however is not the case as the subject of education, which directly relates to many youths entering post-secondary institutions, is one of the most important issues in any political campaign. Also, the lack of interest is sometimes “interpreted as a pattern associated with specific behavioral characteristics of the life cycle. As people age, they become more politically aware and engaged” (Pammett & Leduc, p. 4). This statement is for the most part quite accurate since the older one is, the more responsible they feel to know information such as political issues. Moreover, it can be argued that older individuals have more time on their hands than the youth, this can especially be said of seniors. It is interesting to note that of all the people aged 18-24 who didn’t vote, 28% said their reason was simply because they were not interested and that they didn’t care (Pammett & Leduc, p. 5). This disinterest of the many youths in this country is very disturbing to politicians. In order to solve this problem, they need to implement different strategies to reach out to the youth in order to show their concerns. Since only 41% of youths aged 18 to 27 follow politics very or fairly closely (O’Neill, p. 16), it is difficult to support the lowering of the voting age limit. There is a clear trend when comparing age groups to their interests in politics and it is evident that the younger core lacks interest. For this reason alone, it is safe to determine that lowering the voting age would not really benefit the whole electoral process as it is probable that the individuals younger than 18 would be even less interested in politics and thus, their votes would be meaningless. Lastly, is can be seen that the youths have very little personal relation to political issues. It is said that “Young people are less likely to vote precisely because they are young. Most young people are not going to be particularly concerned about taxes, mortgage rates and access to services…” (Gidengil, Blais, Nevitte & Nadeau, p. 9). This particular statement bears a lot of truth. Since many youths are most likely still living with their parents, they do not need to worry about the majority of issues that politicians bring up such as healthcare, taxes and mortgage rates. These aspects of their life are all being taken care of and hence they have no interest in spending their time analyzing such unrelated issues. Likewise, politicians also focus on aspects such as labor and social security. Although these issues are of great importance to many, it really has no relevance to the youth. Since the youngest age group are most likely still in school and have yet to enter the business world, issues such as labor unions and unemployment are not significant. Same goes with social security considering they are decades away from retirement, the last thing they need to worry about is pension plans. As Brenda O’Neill put it, “…politics achiev...