In the Netherlands it is permitted to vote from the age of eighteen. Many people advocate voting right from the age of sixteen. Opinions differ a lot. Is this too early, or is it not?
An argument against this issue is that young people of sixteen are not yet widely interested in political ideas. One reason for this is that parents of young people usually take the lead in political matters and decisions. So the youngsters of sixteen do not easily see the need to vote.
Secondly, most young people are not yet well informed about the entire political system. This knowledge is often only obtained from the age of eighteen. As a result, young people base their vote on a few positions that are highlighted by a party, while a party has many more points of view. Another consequence may be that one certain political party will be ranked a lot higher because of a few popular statements that appeal to the young people.
On the other hand, lowering the voting age also has advantages. One of them is that Holland is aging. This makes the younger people more important because they are going to be the new generation. It also gives a better distribution of the votes. Older people are mostly voting on a few particular parties with the same statements. This way of thinking also goes with most young people. So it all makes up for each other.
Secondly there is no duty to vote, which means that people can do what they want. So what prevents one from stopping interested youngsters from voting. Ultimately, a lot or youngsters are not equally interested in voting.
According to the arguments, my preference goes ‘for’ the statement. the main reason for this choice is that I think that young people should be more involved in the society.
tijsradijs 