Should the voting age be 16?

The age category of 18-29 has very low turnout

Question: Should the voting age be 16?
Position‹3 of 3: No, the age requirement should be raised
Argument‹3 of 4›: The age category of 18-29 has very low turnout

Statistically, young people vote less. Therefore, there is no point allowing them to vote.

The argument

Proponents of raising the voting age argue that the case for lowering it to sixteen is undercut by what the youngest current voters already do with the franchise they have. According to a study by the US Election Project, the 18-to-29 age group has the lowest voter turnout of any age category, while the highest turnout belongs to those aged sixty and over. The pattern is not confined to the United States. In the United Kingdom, only one in every three young adults eligible to vote is even registered to do so — a figure that measures something prior to turnout, since registration is a step taken well before any ballot is cast. That distinction is what proponents emphasise. Non-voting might be explained by circumstance on polling day, but failing to register cannot be, since registration asks for very little and can be done at any point in advance. On this reading, low registration among the young indicates not obstacles but a lack of interest, and proponents draw the conclusion directly: if young people will not take even that minimal step, extending the franchise to a still younger group is unlikely to produce the engaged participation its advocates promise. The argument then runs the reform in the opposite direction. Where the franchise already sits, it captures an age band that uses it least, while the age groups above are much more likely both to register and to vote. Expanding the electorate downward would add more of the group least likely to participate, producing ballots that go unused rather than votes that get cast. Since those ballots do not need to be wasted, proponents conclude, the age requirement should be raised rather than lowered.

Premises

[P1]Studies show 18-29-year-olds have the lowest voter turnout, and in the UK only one in three young adults is even registered. [P2] If young people will not bother to register or vote, extending the franchise to them is wasted. [P3] Older age groups are far more likely to actually register and vote. [C] Therefore, given the low turnout of the young, the voting age should be raised, not lowered.

Counter-arguments

Low turnout isn't a reason to change the age requirement. It says something about the society's attitude to young voters. Perhaps education on voting and electoral issues should be implemented before elections occur, rather than completely isolating a group from their individual rights.

Rejecting the premises

[Rejecting P1] The proportion of young people that vote is growing.