First #16tovote on the 16th of the year and it lands on MLK Day! How nice. Just when everyone’s minds are on Dr. King’s legacy, here we are promoting expansion of voting rights to youth! It also happened the same day as the Republican presidential candidate debate in South Carolina, which provided some nice evening material. So many young people were watching the debate, watching some men they won’t be able to vote for discuss issues the young people care about and occasionally making factual errors the young people caught. Newt Gingrich talked about how 12-year-olds should be doing janitorial work! Maybe give youth some equal rights and abilities and protections before saying middle school students have a “poor work ethic” because they aren’t employed! Lowering the voting age is a good start.
Next month #16tovote on the 16th will be two years old! Can’t believe it! You all are great for not only helping to keep this going every month, but even coming out in greater and greater numbers, as this run, for the third month in a row, broke yet another participation record! Yay!
So we celebrate the second anniversary on Thursday, February 16, but for now… the recap!
youthrights It’s a new year. It’s 2012’s first… #16tovote on the 16th!!! Here’s Top 10 Reasons to LOWER THE VOTING AGE!!!! http://t.co/RRS0Ridu
youthrights Can already vote at 16 in some countries, plus you can work and pay taxes, drop out, and do other things. Why not vote? #16tovote
youthrights Why cling to the myth of inherently immature teen while ignoring the MANY responsible teens? Empower teens with voting rights! #16tovote
youthrights Teens can’t vote for those who continually set curfew laws and other harsh restrictions on them. Unacceptable for a just society! #16tovote
sciville Some fear teen voters would be tricked for votes. But teens are already exploited to get adults to vote a certain way! #16tovote
sciville Until you define maturity and disqualify adults who don’t meet it, don’t tell me teens are too “immature” to vote! #16tovote
Mbicesk8r #16tovote if I’m mature enough to be tried as an adult why am I treated like a child when I want to vote? @youthrights
youthrights How come an adult completely unfamiliar with the local school system can vote for school board but the actual students can’t? #16tovote
bicyclingfish Adulthood = Maturity? Yeah, right. Let’s eliminate the voting age TODAY for a better tomorrow. #16tovote
EIFY How about we apply the moral standard for children to politicians? #16tovote
sciville Opposition to lower voting age really comes from horror that someone you’ve always been told must be silent might not be. #16tovote
sciville They say voting is for adults, not kids or teens. The idea is ingrained. Tell them to lower voting age and their brains break! #16tovote
youthrights Teen workers must pay taxes and teen students must do community service. Yet still they have no vote, no representation. #16tovote
Zapwoman “@youthrights: How come an adult unfamiliar w/ the local #school system can vote 4 board but the students can’t? #16tovote #age #diversity
arclights Think 12-year-olds aren’t smart enough to vote? Tell me you’re smarter than this kid: http://t.co/YL0MTx6H #0tovote; #16tovote isn’t enough
arclights “When you are … fighting a degenerating sense of ‘nobodiness’–then you will understand why we find it difficult to wait.” -MLK #16tovote
Jordan_Carr Nota bene: Youth rights should be taken seriously, and that includes their right to vote. #16ToVote
youthrights Good morning! Happy MLK Day! It’s also #16tovote on the 16th! A couple good reasons to be thinking about freedom and equality today! 🙂
youthrights “Law is unjust if inflicted on minority that, being denied right to vote, had no part in enacting or devising the law.” -MLK #16tovote
youthrights As long as teens can’t vote, politicians base youth policy on ADULT voters’ perceptions and stereotypes of them. Scary. #16tovote
youthrights 30yo can’t name vice president, can vote. 17yo can name VP, can’t vote. Your “teens lack political knowledge” argument is invalid. #16tovote
Amy33Amy33 #thingsmlkwouldntapproveof would be the ageism of todays society, maybe that wouldn’t happen if #16tovote
Amy33Amy33 #SadMomentWhen Your 17 and you can’t vote because your birthday is 3 days after election day, #16toVote
Schmidt_Law Intelligence, maturity, and critical thinking ability. 3 things NOT required by law to earn the right to cast your vote. #16tovote
Amy33Amy33 #16toVote because Its impossible to vote wrong, like literally impossible.
Amy33Amy33 @Amy33Amy33 #16toVote Even If I were to write in Mickey Mouse, I would just be voting for someone by the name of Mickey Mouse.
youthrights Saying teens don’t care about voting is like saying someone with no access to a kitchen doesn’t care about cooking. #16tovote
FoxfireBurns Dr. Martin Luther King: A law inflicted on those denied the right to vote is unjust.
http://www.youthrights.org/2012/01/11/continuing-king%E2%80%99s-legacy/ #16toVote
youthrights Teens can’t vote to defend themselves from adults voting on teen policy based on negative media portrayals of teens. #16tovote
youthrights Support youth rights, and you’ll befriend teen voters. Antagonize them, and of course you’ll fear their voting rights! #16tovote
youthrights “I am 16. I have a job and pay taxes.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7XtMb6ig38 Our voting age TV ad by @nyrasefl, of course! 🙂 #16tovote
youthrights Students should be able to vote for a school board that won’t violate their constitutional rights at every turn. #16tovote
JBBdude Youth taxation without representation #ThingsMLKWouldntApproveOf #16tovote
JBBdude #16tovote because @youthrights is “The Last Civil Rights Movement,” continuing in Dr. King’s tradition. Something to consider on MLK day
youthrights We accept teens’ hard-earned tax dollars and required-for-diploma community service work, but will not accept their votes! 🙁 #16tovote
youthrights Today is #16tovote on the 16th, our monthly Twitter event where we tweet about lowering the voting age, with the… http://t.co/OdCMhbAl
EdmilytheNerd #16tovote !!
youthrights “They’ll find their tongues cut out and held in trust!” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVFWwGyPAX4 SCOTUS speech by @UsielX on voting and free speech. #16tovote
youthrights We have been informed this Hawaii bill to lower the voting age to 16 will be re-introduced this year! http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session2004/Bills/SB2557_.htm 🙂 #16tovote
GreeningForward “When you are … fighting a degenerating sense of ‘nobodiness’–then you will understand why we find it difficult to wait.” -MLK #16tovote
youthrights Denial of voting rights requires some compelling reason. Vague baseless claims of immaturity or underdevelopment hardly qualify! #16tovote
youthrights This MLK Day Edition of #16tovote on the 16th is going GREAT! Once again… Top 10 Reasons to Lower the Voting Age!!! http://www.youthrights.org/issues/voting-age/top-ten-reasons-to-lower-the-voting-age/
youthrights Ah! Rep. @keithellison supports lowering the voting age to 16! http://southwestminneapolis.patch.com/articles/keith-ellison-16-year-olds-should-vote Yay! #16tovote
zombieramen Martin Luther King, Jr, AND NYRA’s #16tovote campaign, all in one day! What a marvelous day it is today.
youthrights Worry teens would vote like their parents or for other “wrong” reasons? Since when do we micromanage reasons for voting?! #16tovote
youthrights Think teens would vote for the “wrong” reasons? Likely a lot of people who think YOU vote for the “wrong” reasons! Who’s to say? #16tovote
ErikBraghirol Because, as Dr. King said, a right delayed is a right denied. #16tovote.
youthrights Emancipated minors must support themselves and have no legal guardians. Yet even they can’t vote! #16tovote
youthrights Claims of immaturity, underdevelopment, irresponsibility, etc. are just excuses. Teens are denied vote simply for who they are. #16tovote
youthrights Mindset is that youth are “other”. That they are to be separate from some rights-deserving, respectable, enfranchised majority. #16tovote
youthrights The “otherness” of youth is so ingrained, such an accepted given. Few question or challenge it. But we do! Lower the voting age! #16tovote
youthrights Remember! The 26th Amendment says the voting age cannot be raised from 18. But doesn’t say anything against lowering it! 🙂
ErikBraghirol If all of the people running for President are allowed to vote, then I think 16 year-olds can handle it as well. #16tovote.
youthrights “On May 6, 2007 Glarus became the first Swiss canton to lower the voting age to 16.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glarus_%28canton%29 #16tovote
flecktarnfox I see endless bickering from candidates, PACs, supporters, the list goes on. And 16-year-olds are the ones that are immature? #16tovote
youthrights Great #16tovote tweets, everyone! Once again… @nyrasefl’s Voting Age TV Ad! http://bit.ly/9lVTJh 🙂 #16tovote
sciville “Our children are precious!” Okay, how about letting them vote? “No way!” Then you’re just using them as leverage. STFU. #16tovote
BenjaminRobins Miami lowering the voting age before Toronto? Since when is Florida known for electoral fairness? http://youtu.be/k7XtMb6ig38 #16tovote #topoli
youthrights Teens are apparently too “underdeveloped” to vote, yet if they commit a serious crime, they get charged “as adults!” Hmm. #16tovote
youthrights It’s not just about voting. It’s also about empowerment, becoming a demographic that CAN vote, and not being cast off as “other”. #16tovote
jasonspriggs The #YouthRights Movement. The final Civil Rights Movement. #16tovote
youthrights Ann Coulter said the voting age should go up! Then our own @kpalicz rebutted, that it should go DOWN! http://huff.to/ijN8nT #16tovote
sciville “Teens shouldn’t vote! They’ll vote Democrat!” So… your problem is with voting Democrat then, not the voters’ young age, yes? #16tovote
sciville It’s telling really. This assumption that, if teens could vote, they’d vote against how you’d vote. You see them as the enemy. #16tovote
youthrights Supporting lower voting age is to reject the idea that youth are “other”, to be disrespected and scapegoated. #16tovote
Amy33Amy33 #YouGottaBeKidding 16 year olds still can’t vote. Catch up to your brothers across the pond America #16toVote
Amy33Amy33 #ThingsThatPleaseMe Polititians that think that #16toVote
youthrights In 19 states, corporal punishment in schools is still legal and practiced. Might be banned much faster if the students could VOTE! #16tovote
pacifist22 It’s amazing that lawmakers and politicians are afraid of the power young people can have by simply voting. #16tovote
youthrights Only “reason” to fear anyone’s voting rights is fear they’ll vote against you. Why this assumption that teens are against you? #16tovote
youthrights Look forward to the day we can say “Remember when the voting age was 18? Can you believe it used to be so high?!” 🙂 #16tovote
MarinelCool voting is fun i am 5 #16tovote
Sethkeel #16tovote
youthrights Once again, the always fabulous @UsielX speaking at the Supreme Court about free speech and voting rights! http://bit.ly/cDdHnT #16tovote
Schmidt_Law A well-reasoned, non-partisan response to ageism against youth in elections. Worth the read. http://huff.to/cHoX79 @NYRA #16tovote
youthrights Those most affected by education policy, the students, can’t vote on those setting it. Something’s wrong here. #16tovote
sciville Yes, these Republican candidates aren’t too bright. Therefore, no, you are not allowed to say teens are “too stupid” to vote! #16tovote
the_boy #16toVote because democracy benefits whenever suffrage is extended further.
youthrights We have smart young members of all political views watching the election. But many weren’t born at the right time to vote in it. #16tovote
teenvote Lower the voting age now. Give a voice to empower youth! #16tovote
youthrights Lots of teens are watching #SCDebate right now, even if the “teens don’t care about politics” types insist they don’t exist. #16tovote
the_boy Throwing this out there: maybe if #16toVote went through, we wouldn’t have a presidential candidate calling for an end to child labor laws
youthrights Gingrich is for younger workers. Which means younger income taxpayers. Wonder how he feels about those working taxpayers voting. #16tovote
youthrights Here’s a major reason for lower voting age. So youth can vote and protect themselves from some of these candidates’ ideas! #16tovote
youthrights Youth should vote to protect themselves from ideas of candidates from both sides of aisle, that is! 😉 #16tovote #nonpartisanorg
youthrights How many voters aren’t watching #SCDebate right now? Would they say teens who aren’t are not politically savvy enough to vote? #16tovote
youthrights We know longshot Fred Karger supports lower voting age. Think any of these guys at #SCDebate would ever dream of it? #16tovote
Amy33Amy33 #iwoulddoanythingfor fair treatment of young people, #16tovote
youthrights Romney has close ties with abusive teen behavior mod industry. Which would likely no longer be legal if its victims could vote. #16tovote
youthrights Just an hour left for this #16tovote on the 16th! Let’s give it a good finish! 😀
youthrights Many curfews are in effect right now for youth who couldn’t vote for those who enacted them. Call that “consent of the governed?” #16tovote
youthrights Candidates this year will happily say youth need to be controlled. Safe. Not like they’re saying voters need to be controlled! #16tovote
youthrights Expansion of democracy has always been driven by good and wisdom. Opposition to expansion by bigotry and fear. #16tovote
youthrights Why continue to have schools where students have no say, where everything is decided by adults and they must follow along? #16tovote
youthrights How many more youth-related services will be defunded, knowing those who benefit can’t vote against those doing the cutting? #16tovote
kpalicz Great to have @keithellison supporting #16tovote! Thanks!!!
youthrights Great to have the support of Rep. Ellison for #16tovote! Thanks @keithellison !!… http://fb.me/FNJkUBUX
teh_maxh It’s a brand new day / and the sun is high / all the birds are singing / ’bout #16tovote
youthrights Teens do not lack political knowledge or “maturity” some say is necessary to vote, no more than adults do anyway. #16tovote
youthrights Teens pay taxes, volunteer, contribute to community… there is NO reason not to lower the voting age! #16tovote
youthrights Yet why such resistance to idea of lower voting age? Why fear enfranchising the youth, who have for too long been powerless? #16tovote
youthrights Youth are seen as “other”, that giving them voting rights means those who “don’t belong” can vote. Nonsense, of course! #16tovote
youthrights Youth very much DO belong, are an integral part of society, and this “otherness” needs to stop. Voting age must be lowered! #16tovote
youthrights Let’s lower the voting age, give teens that inclusion and voice at last, and watch everyone, all of society, benefit from it! 🙂 #16tovote
youthrights And…. that’s it for this 24th run of #16tovote on the 16th!!!! Thanks so much, everyone! Timeline clogging credits up soon. 🙂
youthrights Thanks for the #16tovote tweets! @silverwolf1977 @sciville @Mbicesk8r @sableverity @bicyclingfish @kstarks17 @EIFY @dloitz @Zapwoman
youthrights Thanks for the #16tovote tweets! @arclights @Jordan_Carr @MichaelCoholich @JulianRCorbett @SchoolSurvival @Obi_Ran_Kenobi @KyleeGrady
youthrights Thanks for the #16tovote tweets! @Chipmazing @iampatrickw @TheBeckyford @Amy33Amy33 @Schmidt_Law @FoxfireBurns @missmarymax @unschoollife
youthrights Thanks for the #16tovote tweets! @jasonspriggs @Spin0za1 @JBBdude @EdmilytheNerd @GreeningForward @SelenaParks @amisophe @agnijaLV @Sethkeel
youthrights Thanks for the #16tovote tweets! @ProjectScenario @zombieramen @COrgbon @PeterOrvetti @ErikBraghirol @alivefoundation @heathercorinna
youthrights Thanks for the #16tovote tweets! @flecktarnfox @studentactivism @BenjaminRobins @KidsHaveRights2 @taradinoc @sandy_burger @smiley2010
youthrights Thanks for the #16tovote tweets! @GomerWHoward @jamesx61 @ElectoralSummit @GianSays @ItsMeMarisol @marissavessels @TheLillyTheory @jmdenn
youthrights Thanks for the #16tovote tweets! @PDXToddDiskin @pacifist22 @RasPect2 @kaylangela @the_boy @reubenco @Crawford_MJ @MarinelCool @teenvote
youthrights Thanks for the #16tovote tweets! @abwb @kpalicz @UsielX @teh_maxh @mollygoossens and anyone I might have missed!
JulianRCorbett #16tovote is done on the east coast, but here I still can’t see how “universal” suffrage isn’t the greatest misnomer ever. @youthrights
youthrights Next month is the SECOND ANNIVERSARY of #16tovote on the 16th! Celebrate with us Thursday, February 16! Until then… Goodnight, everybody!
