By: Cate Eberly

In 1971, the 26th Amendment lowered the voting age from 21 to 18. In recent years many have campaigned for the voting age to become even lower.

Gen Z is an activist generation, expressing voter turnout at higher rates than Millennials did when they were the same age. Many Gen Z teens feel as though they are ready to vote by the age of 16.

“Age is not always a direct correlation of the amount of knowledge that someone has on a certain topic,” sophomore Delaney Dine said.

Ages 18-29 demonstrate low voter turnout compared to older age groups.

Due to such a large push recently about including young voices in New Jersey’s largest city, Newark, they have opened up voting to 16-year-olds for their local elections. The New York Times also reports smaller communities in Maryland and Vermont have adapted to this new age limit, allowing 16-year-olds to vote on the school board and other local elections. 

A 2019 poll found that 75% opposed 17-year-olds voting and 84% opposed 16-year-olds voting. “The brain is not fully developed until age 25, meaning that most teens are not fit to make responsible decisions,” sophomore Aly Tungol said. “I personally don’t keep up with the news making my opinion unfit to vote.”