The 21st Amendment repealed the 18th Amendment which established prohibition. The 26th Amendment lowered the minimum voting age from 21 to 18.

That damn Constitution is SO in trump's way!

@Xena states can make their voting age anything they want...just not the feds

@lerlo Big mistake letting kids vote..The frontal lobe is the part of the brain that controls important cognitive skills in humans, such as emotional expression, problem solving, memory, language, judgment, and sexual behaviors. It is, in essence, the “control panel” of our personality and our ability to communicate. The rational part of a teen's brain isn't fully developed and won't be until age 22 or so.... adult and teen brains work differently. Adults think with the prefrontal cortex, the brain's rational part.

@Xena which is why I voted no

@Xena Sounds similar to arguments I've seen for setting a maximum voting age.

again, unconstitutional.

@Veteran229 I have always said that the salary for those in the Congress and Senate should be the average salary of the state they represent. The POTUS should receive a salary equal to what the average USA citizen makes. Same goes for Governors...they should receive the average of their state.

It's time to do away with politics making people wealthy/adding to their wealth. They should also all have the same medical a retired Veteran has....and have to deal with the same sort of bullshit that is currently the VA. If that happened...you can bet that the VA would be fixed in a year.

@johnbogie obviously. Duh. Doesn’t mean it’s not a good idea considering what unrestricted voting has given us.

What about stay at home parents who didn't finish college? What about disabled people who are unable to work? How do you define steadily employed? Would an artist who earns enough money to live on but only works one month out of twelve be considered steadily employed and eligible to vote? This would amount to taxation without representation for a lot of people.

bad generalization, especially about older people. that was something you heard that you should have questioned. for the record, 16-year-olds are children. they're legally children and they're emotionally children. if they question everything, good! they'll make good voters when they get to be 18 -- unless you think they'll be so old by then they won't question anything anymore.

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@genessa living in various states during my E.R. travel nurse years, I've met thousands of people , ( older ) and I have seen and heard their thoughts! By the same token, I've had the privilege of listening to younger children and more 16 year olds had better heads on their shoulders than a LOT of older folks! 16 year olds are more likely to research issues than older voters and they're more open to change! For the last 20 years I have lived and traveled in the south and I can for a fact STATE that most of. Them are so Party stratified that ISSUES don't matter! It's what the PARTY wants that takes priorities! Granted there are some that do think! Just like there are some 16 year olds that are childish! But I've found just as many older people that were just as childish when it comes to party line voting!

@WilliamLee that's your experience. it is not mine. my statements stand.

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Disagree. Most 16 year olds are more likely than older Americans to actually tesearch what is being told to them. Most older Americans accept what is said without demanding explanations! Most older people vote srtrictly,party lines instead of voting on the actual issues! Most 16 year olds wuestion everything.

@WilliamLee that's not true at all. how can you generalize like that? i think someone accepted what was said about older americans without demanding explanations. i question everything, darling, and i am not alone in that, nor am i a spring chicken. i know 16-year-olds who do likewise but i see more who do NOT. all that aside, what i said stands. they may have good habits and motivations but they're still legally children. the reason they're legally children is that they're emotionally children. questioning everything is good but it's not enough. two-year-olds question even more, mostly "why" and "why not," but still. should they vote?

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@genessa please see above. In response. BYW I have been voting AND listening to voters for 48 years. I spent 25 years as a Trauma nurse doing travel nursing seeing anywhere from 10 to 60 people a shift () Seldom did we see only 10) during 12 hour shifts you see and hear s LOT of politics and religion. ( been an Atheist for 58 years ) and I made it a point to have studied both! What I stated wasn't a vague generalization, but actual conversations with various age groups! Older Americans ESPECIALLY conservatives and Christians tend to follow PARTYnor religious lines of pressure! 16 year olds MAY be young but they tend to question more and. Are computer savvy enough to actually research and openly think about alternative ideas! Try to deny that conservatives Christians do NOT follow party line or the suggestions of their religious leaders!

@WilliamLee oh conservatives and christians. funnily enough i don't find that true of democrats and liberals. they get old too.

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Sadly the older democrats are more conservative leaning than the younger ones. Even the Old Hippies like myself! They used to dance the progressive dance in the60's and70's but hey are leaning towards the fox trot now days! NOW I will give you the more liberal of them. But the older democrats are more conservative leaning than the younger ones. NOW, all that said , will they get thee vote? No, neither the DNC nor GOP want progressives voting. But! To be honest they said the exact same things back in1971 when they gave the vote to 18 year olds! BTW that was my first year to vote! I remember itwell! And it workedout well for the country! But. Seriously doubt , in this contentious setting, that they will allow16 year olds the vote.

@WilliamLee i doubt it too. there was even talk about raising the age back to 21, to which i would strenuously object.

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@WilliamLee did you vote in the poll above? I don't see a pro-16 year old vote

states decide the age of majority, drinking, contracts, etc. if they legislate the drinking age, voting age, when they are no longer a they do it at their will.

@genessa other than in federal elections the state gets to decide voting age too

@lerlo well, if we're talking about dc making the decision (in the post to which we're responding), then we're talking about federal elections.

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Purpose? create discussion on an issue that has somenmerrit. Some of the exact same arguments seem here were voiced in 1971 when 18 year olds got the vote! I remember because that was my FIRST year vote! It worked out well for the country back then AND we weren't nearly as computer savvy as 16 year olds are today nor did we research thongs like kids do today. So it allows for conversation. It's a step in the right direction, regardless of the outcome.

@WilliamLee similar maybe. not the same. there is a big legal difference, and was then too, between 16 and 18. sixteen generally wasn't even yet out of high school!

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@powder not so, states controls who votes. congress controls who is eligible for the draft.

@WilliamLee so I'm guessing you would also agree with the argument that at 16 if you can have sex you should also be able to vote on whether or not abortion is legal. And if you can eat you should be able to vote on whether or not there are tariffs on our farmers. And if you have Vicks rubbed on your chest you should be able to vote for whether or not pharmaceutical companies can charge whatever they want for drugs or vote on health care laws. And if you can trade baseball cards at the age of 8 you should certainly be able to enter into contracts at that age. How would you expect the sixteen-year-olds to get to the polls? Anyway, the cliche that if you're old enough to die you're old enough to vote sounds nice but as you can see you can make that cliche into anything you want. You have the ability to commit suicide at any age, should you get to vote on whether or not assisted suicide is legal? So much for the argument that if you could lose your life you should have a vote on it.

@WilliamLee our premise is different but you have a point. I just see other more noteworthy things that need to be addressed when it comes to voting.