Up to 16 years can reduce the age of voting in Federal and local elections in Washington (D. C.).
A bill introduced Councilman Charles Allen, inspired by the consciousness of high school students from the Parkland (FL). After the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, they initiated a large-scale action for stricter gun control across the country.
According to Allen, the bill supports the majority of the members of the city Council, so it is highly likely that it will.
«We work, pay taxes, care for loved ones can drive a car. So, if we add the right to vote, I think it is the right decision. We will cope,» says the 16-year-old Alex Seier from Woodrow Wilson High School.
The last time the voting age in the US lowered in 1971, during the Vietnam war. Then the students were protesting against the injustice: they called in the army 18 years, but the right to vote they did not.
In some cities, for example in Takoma Park (Maryland) and Berkeley (CA), 16-year-old is already allowed to vote in local elections.
But if the ordinary city can only extend the vote in municipal elections, the Washington (D. C.) in some cases, by the authority equal to the state and therefore has the right to change the age of voting on its territory, even in the case of presidential elections.
