#16tovote on the 16th – November 2011

In this 22nd run of #16tovote on the 16th, we hit a record high number of participants! Terrific! The wonderful usual participants as well as some excited newcomers made this run a huge success. This one focused a lot on the double standard aspect of the voting age issue, particularly how 16-year-olds who work must still pay income tax (also known as “taxation without representation”). Mentioned also, as always, was how without voting rights teenagers’ consent or input in laws that affect them, particularly laws that affect only them, is not given, rendering such laws unjust (or moreso, as is often the case). What is apparently supposed to be gained by so unjustly blocking youth from their own government remains a mystery!

Anyway, the next #16tovote on the 16th, and final one of the year, will of course be Friday, December 16! Until then… the recap!

youthrights What time is it? Time for #16tovote on the 16th! 😀 Here’s Top 10 Reasons to LOWER THE VOTING AGE!!! http://t.co/RRS0Ridu

ErikBraghirol Maybe if younger people could vote they would not have to protest for months on end. #16tovote.

youthrights Last week’s municipal elections likely lamented low turnout. Yet they have citizens who would vote if not for wrong birth year! #16tovote

sciville Told county councilman to lower voting age. He thought I was nuts. He wants to restrict people by age yet *I’m* nuts? #16tovote

UsielX ’70s = attack on war fed by draftees young as 18; 26 Amd. ’10s = attack on corruption fed by wages of workers young as 16 #16tovote #ows

youthrights Teens can’t vote against officials who use their tax dollars to enforce age restrictive policies against them. #16tovote

UsielX I’m sick of talking about what will someday be possible. If teenagers are our future, why not take that new world now? #16tovote #ows

UsielX Old enough to get kicked out of the house for being #lgbtq, old enough to vote (and sign contracts, consent to medical care, etc.) #16tovote

UsielX Old enough to run away from an unsafe place and take care of yourself because no one knows you better, old enough to vote. #16tovote

UsielX Old enough to synthesize information and form an opinion, old enough to vote #16tovote (if you don’t have *that* down by 16, you never will)

ErikBraghirol If the slander directed toward young people and voting were directed toward any other group, that person would be called a bigot. #16tovote

sciville Amazing how often I’ve been told teens don’t have knowledge to vote by someone who first had to ask me what current voting age is. #16tovote

youthrights Youth curfew laws just keep springing up! Teens can’t vote against those officials who see them as pests to be shooed away. #16tovote

youthrights 16yo and 18yo working same job, same pay, same taxes. Yet only the 18yo gets a say in how those paid taxes are used. #16tovote

sciville Wait, we can’t lower the voting age! We must PROTECT THE CHILDREN from… being able to speak for themselves on vital issues? #16tovote

youthrights We’re 2 hours into this 22nd run of #16tovote on the 16th! For more voting age info, check out our page: http://t.co/12v7ux5h

flecktarnfox I’m gonna be 15 before the month is out – and I’d like to be able to vote by the time November 26, 2012 rolls around. #16tovote

youthrights Good morning! It’s another #16tovote on the 16th, another time to tell why the voting age must be lowered! 🙂

ErikBraghirol If 16 year-olds can pay taxes, they should have a say in how that money is spent. #16tovote.

youthrights To deny voting rights to the young (or anyone) is to explicitly say “I don’t want people like you matter in my society!” #16tovote

youthrights Society to teens: “Voting? No way, you’re just kids! We’ll just take your taxes and be on our way.” #16tovote

flecktarnfox Nowhere near enough #16tovote tweets.

youthrights If teens are “incapable of voting” (whatever that means), don’t say “so they shouldn’t vote”, say “let’s make them capable!” #16tovote

youthrights “Tough on crime” politicians happily send to adult prisons those they believe are too young to vote for them. #16tovote

youthrights Laws restricting those under 18 are set by officials voted in only by those aged 18+. Therefore, such laws are inherently unjust. #16tovote

youthrights Some oppose teen suffrage fearing teens wouldn’t vote like they would. Silencing (assumed) opposition. How democratic! #16tovote

youthrights Would you tell someone who juggles a job, education, and parenting they can’t vote? What about when that someone is 16? #16tovote

ErikBraghirol The reason that you should be #16tovote is that there is simply no rational reason why 16 year-olds should not be allowed to vote.

youthrights Don’t fear and silence young voters. Reach out to them. Listen to them. Much more beneficial in the long run! 🙂 #16tovote

youthrights “I’ll be affected by today’s decisions for many years to come.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7XtMb6ig38 Our voting age ad by @jnadel and @nyrasefl! #16tovote

youthrights Lowering the voting age means giving teens a REAL political voice. What’s so scary about that? What are you afraid they’ll say? #16tovote

youthrights If families and “family values” are really so politically important, how about letting the WHOLE family vote? #16tovote

youthrights If parents can’t or won’t vote (as is often case for variety of reasons), let their 16yo vote so family isn’t totally left out! #16tovote

pacifist22 If Brazil, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Cuba, and Austria can do it, why not the U.S.? #16tovote

youthrights Seems @jnadel (age 17) knew American freedom and values better than Senator Adams (elected by 18+ voters). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDBqm1WBc6g #16tovote

youthrights Adults can’t possibly vote for “what they think is best for teens”. They can’t know that. Only teens themselves know that. #16tovote

youthrights Only teens are living the lives of teens, therefore only teens can adequately represent teens at the ballot box! #16tovote

Sethkeel We continue to have no voice and no representation while those elected make crucial decisions that affect us. Give us the vote! #16tovote

missmarymax The vast majority of 16-year-olds understand the Internet better than the congressdudes currently trying to legislate it. #16tovote

youthrights “To be subject to laws of society without any right to say what those laws should be is the most serious injustice.” -John Holt #16tovote

youthrights This is the 22nd run of #16tovote on the 16th! Where we tweet all day for lowering the voting age, with the #16tovote hashtag. Join in! 🙂

youthrights For more in-depth voting age information, check out our page: http://www.youthrights.org/issues/voting-age/ #16tovote

youthrights “Not one of those millions of people is under the age of 18!”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVFWwGyPAX4 @UsielX at SCOTUS on free speech and voting! #16tovote

youthrights “Parents vote for what teens need.” Or we could give teens the vote so parents can vote for their own needs. Like they already do. #16tovote

youthrights “Parents vote for what teens need.” What about kicked out, foster, emancipated, or other teens who don’t have parents? #16tovote

youthrights “Parents vote for what teens need.” What about teens who ARE parents? #16tovote

youthrights “Parents vote for what teens need.” Even the parents who ship their kids off to abusive “teen boot camps”? #16tovote

youthrights Adults who believe “vodka tampons” and “rainbow parties” are real can still vote. Teens who can’t vote suffer from these myths. #16tovote

youthrights #16tovote on the 16th is going GREAT! Thanks, everyone! Once again, here’s Top 10 Reasons to Lower the Voting Age! http://www.youthrights.org/issues/voting-age/top-ten-reasons-to-lower-the-voting-age/

Jordan_Carr #16ToVote because representation is a natural right.

youthrights Local governments make decisions on school funding, policies, etc. None of which the students have any say in. #16tovote

youthrights When Ann Coulter said “raise the voting age!” our own @kpalicz said “no! LOWER the voting age!” http://t.co/eN6iDBUj #16tovote

e_m_goldstein Because they are citizens who want to be involved in our great(?) democracy. #16tovote

youthrights “While lower voting age wouldn’t prevent abuses of liberties, it’d encourage young people to actively protect their civil rights.” #16tovote

youthrights That quote is from this (oooold) piece by @teenvote: http://t.co/T3HGBPwZ “Proposal to Lower the Voting Age” Check it out! #16tovote

youthrights Student’s free speech/press rights are under attack by a school board they’re too young to vote for! http://t.co/cJ4y4CyO #16tovote

youthrights If teens could vote, perhaps officials would be less willing to cut funding to schools and other youth services. #16tovote

youthrights If teens could vote, thus with real youth input, perhaps schools and other youth services/programs would be greatly improved! #16tovote

youthrights If teens could vote for school boards, say goodbye to the myriad of constitutional rights violations students suffer regularly! #16tovote

evilfoods Corporations are people, youth are not. #16tovote

Amy33Amy33 People think that if youth could vote we would vote for the #SexiestManAlive, but who says adults have never voted based on looks #16tovote

Sethkeel The #ageist arguments get old and are easy to contradict and fight against. Give sixteen year olds the right to vote! #16tovote

Amy33Amy33 We can’t vote, yet we have to take a MCA Test #whereslogic #16tovote

youthrights Great #16tovote tweets today! Got more to say on voting age than 140 characters allows? Say it on our Voting Age forum! http://t.co/iWbpGziL

Amy33Amy33 at 16 you can do pretty much everything that an adult can do except smoke, drink and vote #16tovote

youthrights Lowering the voting age is basically about youth empowerment, for youth to use that power by their own terms! #16tovote

Amy33Amy33 If youth can @OccupyWallSt and @OccupyMN then they should be able to vote, and if corporations r people and people aren’t people…#16toVote

jasonspriggs There is a problem. The Fix: #16tovote

Sethkeel Voting is only a step toward intergenerational equality – but it’s a start. Lower the voting age and give more youth a voice! #16tovote

FoxfireBurns #16tovote Here’s a radical idea: No taxation without representation.

youthrights You know what’s nice? The 26th Amendment. It forbids raising the voting age above 18 but allows lowering it! 🙂 #16tovote

ListenToPhilipp @sethkeel’s voting age idea is great. Especially for local elections. The youth should have a say in who represents them. #16tovote

Amy33Amy33 Young People are Still People #16tovote

northeastern292 Honestly, I don’t see the problem in letting 16 year olds vote for school board members. #16tovote

zombieramen Some say that young people wouldn’t care enough about politics to vote. But wouldn’t they care more if they could actually vote? #16tovote

youthrights Once again, @nyrasefl’s voting age ad! http://t.co/ZoKnXN02 “We’re asking for your support. We want the right to vote.” #16tovote

Amy33Amy33 If you don’t want us to vote and then we get the right to vote, we won’t vote for you, Get on the bandwagon #republicans #16tovote

sciville Worried politicians would fool teen voters with false promises? You mean… just like they do with every other voter? 😉 #16tovote

sciville If teens would just vote the same as their parents, how would they vote if their parents vote differently from each other? #16tovote

youthrights 16yo student attends the public school AND his taxes contribute to it. Yet he still can’t vote for school board. #16tovote

youthrights Perhaps dropout rates would decline, as school would be less oppressive, since students would have a vote, a REAL say in it! #16tovote

youthrights If students had a vote, a real say in education law and policy, maybe more free democratic school models would pop up! #16tovote

youthrights If students could vote, perhaps there would be more educational options for them rather than the current one-size-fits-all system. #16tovote

sciville Are young people’s human rights more important than adults’ feeling of superiority over them? Of course. So lower the voting age! #16tovote

youthrights NYRA board member Samantha Godwin explores voting age in “Children’s Oppression, Rights, and Liberation”: http://t.co/lUXlMkdv #16tovote

D_Summerville Ran a 2-week YMCA YIG curriculum for US Hist. classes after our Constitution unit. 2 authored bills lowering the voting age to 16 #16tovote

youthrights When youth are controlled by the system but have no say in it, the system is not their friend. No way to treat next generation. #16tovote

youthrights There isn’t even a 1% here. 100% of people under age 18 in this country cannot legally vote. Individual merits are irrelevant. #16tovote

youthrights On second thought, not totally true. There are the 17yos in certain states who can vote in primaries if 18 by general. #16tovote

youthrights Three hours to go for #16tovote on the 16th! Once again, @UsielX on free speech and voting rights at Supreme Court! http://t.co/LP8enpOg

youthrights As long as teens can’t vote, policy making ignores their real selves and lives and instead goes by stereotypes. #16tovote

sciville Judge Adams and Joe Paterno are old enough to vote. Their victims weren’t. How does that affect child abuse policy? #16tovote

the_boy #16toVote because the opinions of people themselves will always be better than paternalistic impulses to decide things for them

sciville With rampant child abuse, rights violations, and high poverty rates, voting rights will give youth issues needed attention! #16tovote

teenvote Visit http://t.co/NeKdacGr to learn about efforts to lower the voting age #16tovote

teenvote Youth of America in 2012– It’s Time- Tell Everyone- I Want My Vote! Join the movement to lower the voting age in America! #16tovote

teenvote Michael Moore Supports a Lower Voting Age- http://t.co/2KxWSPAD #16tovote

teenvote Watch the FIRST TV Ad to Lower the Voting Age- http://t.co/zaFtdVUO #16tovote

Amy33Amy33 #16tovote 2 groups of people can’t vote, criminals and youth, I see a pattern here…

youthrights Two hours left for #16tovote on the 16th! Once again, @kpalicz’s rebuttal to Ann Coulter’s attack on young voters! http://t.co/Yp3gDU1A

TeacherSabrina I believe in being #16tovote b/c youth are invested in the future. Who’s + committed to sustainability than those who live the consequences?

TeacherSabrina Instead of assuming the worst about their commitment & intelligence, let’s teach youth to be responsible stewards of their future. #16tovote

youthrights It is always better to engage with and include youth to reach mutual understanding than to restrict and silence. Obviously. #16tovote

flecktarnfox I’m to immature to vote, and will never understand the politics and issues that we face… until I’m the magical age of 18. #16tovote

UsielX Show me what democracy looks like! No, really, show me. I couldn’t vote until 3 months ago. Is that democracy? #16tovote #ows

youthrights Can’t restrict voting rights without “compelling state interest”. I doubt a 16yo casting a vote for mayor will break society. #16tovote

youthrights Unless, of course, the next big media scare is “groups of teens are flocking to polling places and… VOTING! Ahhhh!” 😛 #16tovote

youthrights Hard to begin voting when 18 and in unfamiliar college town. Easy to start voting when 16 and in familiar home town! #16tovote

youthrights Lower voting age should reduce number of “feel good” laws that scapegoat teens just to pretend they’re accomplishing something. #16tovote

J0lt_C0la #16tovote because youth can be bullied in school but they can’t vote on board members who might pass better protections? That’s not right.

BakeMakes Perhaps if we allowed more people who understand the internet to vote (COUGH16YEAROLDSCOUGH), we wouldn’t be in this #SOPA mess. #16tovote

youthrights @Patmorris10 Yes. Student council elections rarely truly matter. For voting that actually matters, yes, they’ll turn out. #16tovote

youthrights Spectacular #16tovote on the 16th today! So many great participants with great points on the voting age! 🙂 #16tovote

youthrights So what brings us to this little event every month? We see lower voting age campaigns and proposals come and go and come again. #16tovote

flecktarnfox We’re beyond limiting people’s abilities to vote based on their sex and race… but not their age. What the hell, people. #16tovote

youthrights It’s all momentum. Talking about lower voting age isn’t as good as active campaigning, but when latter ebbs the former continues. #16tovote

youthrights It’s exploring the particulars of lower voting age and related youth rights issues, asking questions, keeping the philosophy. #16tovote

youthrights So that when the next little locale looks to enfranchise its younger citizens, we’ll all be ready without losing a step! 🙂 #16tovote

youthrights So keep exploring, keep finding hidden points and issues, expand our understanding, to keep the dream of lower voting age alive! #16tovote

youthrights And that about does it for this 22nd run of #16tovote on the 16th! 😀 You all rock! Timeline clogging credits up soon.

youthrights Thanks for the #16tovote tweets! @ErikBraghirol @sciville @UsielX @Baby_Love_Child @silverwolf1977 @sandbridgekid @nickj47 @SchoolSurvival

youthrights Thanks for the #16tovote tweets! @all_ages @manubloggt @agnijaLV @LindaMedene @CFC_Oklahoma @stevenhamrick @TheBeckyford @pacifist22 @yacwa

youthrights Thanks for the #16tovote tweets! @Sethkeel @missmarymax @Jordan_Carr @Librehombre @e_m_goldstein @deblovescoffee @oinonio @morphusbfly

youthrights Thanks for the #16tovote tweets! @CAFalk @TheroneShellman @evilfoods @Amy33Amy33 @jasonspriggs @FoxfireBurns @taradinoc @ListenToPhilipp

youthrights Thanks for the #16tovote tweets! @northeastern292 @virago1 @zombieramen @JTeen @kpalicz @inababi @OliviaConsiders @OkUncut @TeacherSabrina

youthrights Thanks for the #16tovote tweets! @AJWyp @D_Summerville @mollygoossens @curiouscliche @Indaandiltson @Scarleteen @the_boy @SpokenxWords

youthrights Thanks for the #16tovote tweets! @dloitz @teenvote @pdxmobilizer @smiley2010 @InvisibleColor @TheLillyTheory @Spin0za1 @arclights @J0lt_C0la

youthrights Thanks for the #16tovote tweets! @BakeMakes @GScharmane and anyone I may have missed! 🙂

youthrights We do it again Friday, December 16, the Holiday Edition and final #16tovote on the 16th of 2011! Goodnight everybody! 😀

Yay!