The Case for Youth Voting Rights
Youth voting rights are not just an aspiration—they are a necessity for a thriving democratic society. The exclusion of young people from the franchise silences 73 million American citizens, undermines our ideals, and leads to worse outcomes for everyone. The case for youth enfranchisement rests on three fundamental pillars: it is fair, it is principled, and it is good.
Fair: Young People Deserve a Voice
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A 16-year-old farm worker in California must pay taxes on their earnings but has no voice in how that money is spent.
A 14-year-old in Texas who experiences sexual assault must live with strict abortion bans they had no part in creating.
An 11-year-old in Florida must endure lockdown drills in their elementary school because adults have failed to meaningfully address gun violence.
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If that 16-year-old California farm worker loses an arm in an accident because of loosened youth labor safety protections, he cannot vote it back into existence when he turns 18.
If that 14-year-old sexual assault victim is forced to carry her pregnancy to term, no vote to enshrine a state right to abortion when she reaches adulthood can restore what she lost when she dropped out of high school and became a mom at 15.
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Experts estimate that between 2026 and 2042, the global average temperature rise will reach 1.5°C, a critical point of no return, but someone born in 2019 won’t have a political voice in a presidential election until 2040.
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Whether it's environmental policy, national debt, or infrastructure investment, a 15-year-old will experience the effects of today's choices for decades longer than a 90-year-old voter.
Principled: Democracy Means Including All Voices
Extending voting rights to young people advances core democratic principles:
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Every person deserves their own distinct voice in our democracy, regardless of age. As one 11-year-old astutely observed, "A family of five should get five total votes; a family of five should not get two votes, the same as an eighty-year-old retired couple."
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The Founders envisioned a political system that would err on the side of inclusion, believing our democracy was strengthened by incorporating diverse perspectives and experiences. Over the last two centuries, America has expanded democratic participation, gradually removing barriers based on property ownership, race, gender, and other characteristics—and lowering the voting age to 18. Today, we provide extensive accommodations—from language assistance to help in the voting booth—to ensure all adult voices are heard, regardless of disability, education level, or English proficiency.
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Many young people pay various taxes yet have no say in how those funds are used.
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Excluding young people from voting echoes past discriminatory arguments used to deny the franchise to women, racial minorities, and the poor.
The notion that children are "represented" through their parents mirrors the flawed reasoning once used to deny women the vote—that they were adequately represented by their husbands and fathers. Democracy means giving everyone a voice, not filtering some voices through others.
Good: Better Outcomes for Everyone
Including young people in our democracy leads to better decision-making and stronger communities:
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Young people have direct experience with many pressing issues, from school safety to social media regulation.
They bring fresh perspectives and different life experiences than older voters.
Their participation would increase focus on long-term challenges that affect everyone.
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Where youth voting has been implemented, turnout is often higher than older age groups.
Early civic participation builds lifelong democratic engagement.
Young people tend to be less rigidly partisan and more open to evidence-based policy changes.
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Youth inclusion leads to greater investment in education, climate action, and other future-oriented policies.
Their participation helps break through political gridlock.
Evidence from countries that have lowered the voting age shows positive civic outcomes.
Common Concerns Addressed
Research and real-world experience have dispelled common concerns about youth voting:
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By age 16, young people demonstrate comparable decision-making abilities to adults in situations allowing calm deliberation, like voting. But, more importantly, we don't screen adult voters for capacity—and many existing voters have significant cognitive impairments or are poorly informed. It is wrong to hold young voters to a capacity standard that we do not apply to any other age group.
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Evidence from countries that have lowered the voting age shows young people don't simply vote like their parents. In Scotland's independence referendum, only about half of 16- and 17-year-olds voted the same way as their parents.
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While young people may lack certain life experiences, they possess crucial perspectives on contemporary issues that many older voters don't have. Their different experiences enrich rather than diminish our democracy.
The Path Forward
The momentum for youth voting rights is building:
Several U.S. municipalities already allow those under 18 to vote in local elections.
Multiple countries have successfully lowered their voting age to 16.
In 2025, the British government announced that it would allow 16-and 17-year-olds to vote in all UK elections, the first reduction in voting age for more than 50 years.
In 2021, 125 members of the U.S. House of Representatives voted to lower the federal voting age.
Youth-led movements on gun violence, climate change, and racial justice demonstrate young people's readiness for civic engagement.
The question isn't whether young people will gain voting rights, but when and how. As with previous expansions of voting rights, youth enfranchisement will strengthen our democracy and lead to better outcomes for all. The time has come to embrace this next step in democratic evolution.
There are multiple viable avenues to achieving youth voting rights, from gradually lowering the voting age at the local level to changing state constitutions to give parents the right to vote for their minor children to establishing ageless voting through a federal amendment. While lowering the voting age to 16 has proven successful in other countries and represents an achievable first step, Minor Power favors a more comprehensive solution: eliminating age-based voting restrictions entirely. This system would grant all young people a vote from birth, with parents or guardians serving as proxies until children chose to assert their right to vote independently by registering. This approach ensures that all citizens have their interests represented in our democracy for their entire lifespan, encourages early civic engagement, and fully realizes the principle of "one person, one vote."