New Poll Shows Youth Support for Lowering the Voting Age

A group called Do Something has done a poll that went out and asked teens what they thought of the voting age. The results: “When results for a lower voting age are combined, there is a clear majority of young people who believe that the voting age should be lowered to at least 17. If the voting age were going to be lowered to either 16 or 17, young people would prefer 16.” The survey also found that between 54% and 61% would sign a petition to lower the voting age. An interesting result of the poll found that a full 76% percent of youth think that they are responsible to vote, yet only 25-35% think others their age are responsible to vote. The Do Something analysis is right on the mark: “It is clear that young people have a greatly diminished opinion (compared to a self-opinion) about their demographic as a whole. There is no definitive explanation for this disparity. It is possible that when teens think of their contemporaries they only envision the predominantly negative portraits published by sensational media.” Read the poll here.