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A4 THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, ApRIL 26, 2019 OPINION editor@dailyastorian.com KARI BORGEN publisher JIM VAN NOSTRAND Editor Founded in 1873 JEREMY FELDMAN Circulation Manager JOHN D. BRUIJN production Manager CARL EARL Systems Manager PRO-CON Is lowering the voting age from 18 to 16 a good idea? Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian Burke Matthews, left, and Josh Shipley hold up signs in front of Astoria High School on Election Day. PRO: Voting at 16 is nonpartisan and shores up a healthy democracy B OSTON — Yes, it is time to lower voting a habit, we could very well see an the voting age to 16. Strong voter increase in participation among a group participation is the cornerstone of a that is increasingly key to the conservative healthy democracy, and the United States base. ranks only 26th out of 32 developed coun- Earlier voting isn’t just about habit for- tries in voter turnout. mation; it’s also about honoring existing Nearly six out of 10 Americans didn’t rights and responsibilities. vote in the last midterm, and in most may- Sixteen- and 17-year-olds work and pay oral elections, fewer than 15 percent show taxes, and will face the repercussions of up. policy decisions made today for the rest We can start to reverse this unacceptable of their lives, whether it is the ballooning and preventable status quo by providing national debt or our response to climate more citizens the opportunity to establish change. Lowering the voting age gives our strong voting habits earlier in life. representatives an incentive to pay atten- Voting in the first election you’re eli- tion to an overlooked constituency of tax- gible for is critical to becoming a con- paying citizens. sistent, lifelong voter. For many, 18 is a Science also shows that 16-year-olds difficult age to establish this habit as it are ready to make informed decisions at coincides with new jobs or heading the polls. Voting relies on the “cold to college. cognition” decision-making pro- At 16, on the other hand, young cess, which is fully developed at people are in school, rooted in their 16, and does not improve with age. communities, and are more likely Lowering the voting age sounds to cast that first ballot. Voting at like a bold idea. Many ideas we 16 would ensure every citizen can now take for granted were once BRANDON vote at least once during their high looked at the same way. KLUGMAN school years and establish the vot- In 1939, 83 percent of Ameri- ing habit. cans opposed an 18-year-old voting The evidence backs this up. In age. But 32 years later it became American cities that use a 16-year-old vot- the law of the land and now it is tough to ing age for municipal elections, turnout for imagine it any other way. 16- and 17-year-olds has been significantly The push for 16-year-old voting is in higher than for older young adults. early stages but is making real strides. Last The same is true in European countries month, 126 members of Congress sup- such as Austria, where 16-year olds can ported the idea on the House floor. Around vote in all elections. the country, cities and states are leading the This idea has been mischaracterized way in considering laws that would imple- by some as intended to benefit the Demo- ment a lower voting age on the local level cratic Party, but fostering engaged citizens first. is a deeply American ideal that transcends Lowering the voting age to 16 will party lines. Lowering the voting age will increase participation in the long run and likely also benefit both parties over time. make our democracy more representative. Those with a high school education or It is a bold, necessary idea and the evi- less lean right politically and that gap is dence shows it works. It is time to get on widening. However, this group also turns board. out to vote at lower rates than those with a Brandon Klugman is a campaign coor- dinator at Generation Citizen, which works college education. Thus, by making it easier for those who to ensure that every student in America will not go to college to vote and make receives an effective civics education. CON: Not until high schools beef up the teaching of civics, US history SHLAND, Ohio — House Speaker question; one of the choices was the cor- rect answer. Nancy Pelosi has endorsed a pro- posal to lower the legal voting age The reason we find ourselves in this sit- uation has nothing to do with the quality from 18 to 16 in federal elections and sev- and dedication of America’s teachers or the eral Democratic presidential hopefuls also ability of American students. are touting the idea. We work closely with high school and Whatever you might think initially of middle school history and civics teachers the concept, it’s important to consider it from around the country and find them, as a against the following backdrop. In 2014, a nationally representative sam- group, to be able, dedicated and genuinely ple of 9,100 eighth-grade students was enthusiastic about these subjects. administered a test designed to measure As are their students, when they’re “the civics knowledge and skills that are exposed to the exciting story of America critical to the responsibilities of citizenship and the well-thought-out — and vigorously debated — architecture of our government. in America.” The trouble is that most students are not Only 23 percent of the students exposed to such details in their schools. answered enough questions correctly to Little more is required of them in most demonstrate proficiency in the subject states than cursory knowledge of and just 2 percent scored at the these important topics. advanced level. For example, California, the A similar test — part of the qua- drennial National Assessment of nation’s most populous state, Educational Progress (NAEP), requires just a half year of civics America’s so-called “Nation’s and a year of U.S. history — and no exam in either — for students to Report Card” — was given in U.S. PATRICK graduate from high school. history. MALONEY According to an October 2018 This test was taken by 11,200 survey by Education Week, only eighth-graders. The scores were eight states require a full year of even worse, with 18 percent of the civics, 31 states require a full year of U.S. students judged to be “proficient” and just history, 19 states require students to take a 1 percent scoring at the advanced level. Those former eighth-graders will be eli- civics test and 15 states require a U.S. his- gible to vote for the first time in next year’s tory exam. But, Education Week cautions, “students elections. This was not a one-off bad year for U.S. are not necessarily required to pass some of these exams.” Fifteen states have no spe- students. It was part of a consistent, ongo- cific requirement for any civics classes at ing pattern, and there’s little reason to all; 11 have no history requirement. believe that 2014’s eighth-graders learned Regardless of the legal voting age, we much more about our country’s govern- ment and history in grades nine through 12. do our students a disservice by not giving them the knowledge and skills necessary to In fact, the last time these tests were be responsible citizens — and our country given to high school seniors — in 2010 — just 12 percent scored at or above the profi- suffers because of it. cient level in history and just one in four or Rather than focusing on changing the 24 percent performed at that level in civics. voting age, which has the appearance of Eighth-graders that year were equally legislating for political gain, lawmakers clueless. For example, when asked to iden- should instead commit themselves to rein- vigorating civics and history education, tify a purpose of the Bill of Rights, fewer which would benefit all of us. than half came up with the correct answer. patrick Maloney is deputy director of When asked to choose the definition of Ashland University’s Ashbrook Center, our government’s system of checks and which aims to strengthen constitutional balances, only 10 percent made the right choice. And this was a multiple-choice self-government. A
