At 17, I got my first job. I was paid to work remotely, phone banking voters across the country, praying that the next person I called didn’t immediately curse me out and hang up. At the time, I had close to zero idea how money worked. But what I understood was that by filling out my Form W-4, the income my employer would be giving me had the potential to be taxed. At first, I thought: “I shouldn’t have to pay taxes, I’m not even old enough to vote!” (No matter how liberal I am, I am still entertained, for a moment, by a lousy excuse to not have to be involved with taxes). But then it hit me that I had it backwards — I should be able to vote because legally, in certain circumstances, I can be required to pay taxes. 

With this realization, I went back to the internet to look up an organization I’d heard of, Vote16, reading through its essays and research in a completely new light. 

Research has shown voting to be a habitual practice. And throughout history, the youth vote (ages 18-24) in America has had the lowest turnout, in part due to lack of habit formation. Lowering the voting age would develop voting practices sooner, helping increase the 18-24 year-old turnout — and, subsequently, the turnout rates in older age groups as well. 

Beyond the public gain of increased voter turnout, there is also individual gain for young people to be considered. Students have become major voices in large political campaigns such as March for Our Lives and Fridays for Future. This is in part because, like many other groups, youth have the ability to mobilize, strategize, and express their own opinions, but also because many of today’s policies will have the largest impact on young generations. Extending the right to vote would be an individual victory for young people, helping turn their serious movements into civic action. 

Young people are smart, active members in our country. And yet, despite understanding the benefits of decreasing the voting age, there’s one big question I still had to ask myself, which you might be thinking too: won’t most young adults just vote however their parents or mentors vote? However, as shown in an extensive literature review conducted by the organization Vote16, in partnership with the University of Maryland, “multiple studies found that household influence on politics is roughly the same for all members of the home,  and while schools may play a role in encouraging civic and political engagement,  they do not seem to bias young voters.” The influence of people close to you is equal in all directions — whether that be from a spouse, child, parent, sibling, workplace, classroom, or friend. 

In truth, this main criticism of outside influence is so concerned with how people vote that it distracts from the real issue of not allowing people the right to vote in the first place. 62.5% of Americans have not received a degree from a program beyond high school, and 8.9% have not received even a high school degree. Further, 10.9% of Americans have cognitive disabilities. These are groups who, like youth, are often presumed to be impressionable — however, rightfully so, we do not determine who can vote based on perceived cognitive abilities or educational level. The right to vote exists as representation for everyone in our democratic republic, no matter the party they choose to vote for or the personal factors that influence their decision. 

At a local level, and in select countries around the world, this revelation has hit, and changes are being made. Within the last two decades, several European countries have lowered the voting age for certain elections, and five Maryland cities have lowered the voting age to 16. National support has yet to emerge because something so simple — an extension of the long plight for equal representation in this country — is always viewed as radical in its early stages. 

This country was built on the principle of “no taxation without representation.” And yet, contributing members of our society have continually been denied proper representation. Young people face subtle degradation in a world that paints them as not old enough, not ready yet, still learning — as if adults are not constantly learning, growing, and adapting to change too.