We’ve now completed the fifteenth run of #16tovote on the 16th! Being middle of April, one thing on everyone’s mind around now are taxes. That includes working teens, who pay income taxes just like everyone else but unlike everyone else are not welcome at their local polling place. So the “taxation without representation” issue with the voting age came up quite a bit. Our friends in Massachusetts, UTEC, are also working hard these days to lower the voting age for local elections to 17! So in the world of lowering the voting age, there is a lot going on! But as usual, being the 16th of the month, on Twitter, we did our usual tweeting about it with the #16tovote hashtag!
We do it again, of course, on Monday, May 16. Be sure to follow NYRA on Twitter!
youthrights It’s now time for another spectacular… #16tovote on the 16th! Here’s Top 10 Reasons to LOWER THE VOTING AGE! http://bit.ly/cavxOT
youthrights It’s tax time, and many citizens paying those taxes are too young to have a say in how that money is used. #16tovote
youthrights You can work at 16, thus paying income taxes, yet this is conveniently forgotten when it comes to voting rights. #16tovote
sciville 16yo commits a crime? TRY HIM AS AN ADULT! 16yo wants to vote? Oh, he’s just a stupid kid. Convenient. #16tovote
youthrights This is #16tovote on the 16th, our monthly event for tweeting for lowering the voting age with the #16tovote hashtag! 🙂
sciville How different would any youth-related legislation be if those affected could actually VOTE? How is it just that they can’t? #16tovote
youthrights Wouldn’t it be nice to have a lower voting age in, say, Massachusetts? Exactly what @Vote17Lowell is working on! 😀 #16tovote
arclights It’s #16tovote on the 16th for the, what, 13th time, and I’m tired of it. But not as tired as I was, at 16, of not being allowed to vote.
arclights If you’re worried about how teenagers would vote, remember: George W. Bush and @BarackObama were elected by adults. #16tovote
arclights Adults are taking your least favorite idiot seriously as a presidential candidate. Could teenagers be sillier? #16tovote
youthrights Maybe we could go on the radio promoting a lower voting age? Our own @jnadel did exactly that! http://youtu.be/uYgH_4EKFrY #16tovote
arclights Hey, Tea Partiers! No taxation without representation! Young people pay taxes, so they’re entitled to vote. #16tovote, or better, 0.
CosmUnity @youthrights @jnadel #16tovote is nice and a must on the #Globe for real fast #Change towards #Social #NewDawn for all 7 billion Humans now.
arclights Did you just buy Deathly Hallows I on DVD? Harry’s 17 in that film. Old enough to save the world is old enough to vote. #16tovote
arclights #deletemynumberif you actually think that people suddenly go from brainless to wise and mature on their 18th birthdays. #16tovote, or 0
arclights If you’ve had your 18th birthday, #uknowbetter than to think that wisdom descended on you with a blast of trumpets. #16tovote, or better, 0
youthrights Teens come in all types, yet all are equally silenced in our electoral system. Their voices need to be heard. All of them. #16tovote
youthrights In 19 states, it’s legal to paddle students. If students could vote, it’d be banned much faster! #16tovote #FightthePaddle
EIFY So, US congress run by just adults makes energy policy “like a teenage boy”. Perhaps real teens can do better? http://t.co/60TuWDi #16tovote
sciville Wow, @EIFY, that article was very insulting! To think that writer can vote while the teens he thinks he’s better than can’t. #16tovote
sciville All those legal hoops under-18 girls must go through to get an abortion? What if those girls could vote? #16tovote #prochoice
TheLillyTheory I support #16tovote! You guys should too. 😀
youthrights Lowering the voting age isn’t about expecting a certain election turnout. It’s about enabling youth to speak for themselves! #16tovote
drewmm10 We need to have a serious conversation about lowering the voting age. @youthrights #16tovote
DegrassiPwns #16tovote 🙂
Jordan_Carr Responsible enough to drive. Responsible enough to take themselves out of school. Responsible enough to have consensual sex. #16tovote
Jordan_Carr Responsible enough to pay taxes. Old enough to be tried as an adult. But they don’t know what’s good for this country, do they? #16tovote
nicolecornu Swiss Youth Council supported a draft resolution of the Council of Europe expressing support for lowering the voting age to 16. #16tovote
youthrights Good morning everyone! It’s #16tovote on the 16th – Saturday Edition! As usual, tweeting about lowering the voting age! 🙂
youthrights Check out our voting age ad from 2008! http://bit.ly/9lVTJh Featuring members from @nyrasefl! #16tovote
sciville What maturity do people really think one needs to vote? You research info on a candidate and pick the one you like. Not hard. #16tovote
sciville Often “I think teens are too immature to vote” means “I don’t think they’ll vote the same way as me”. Hence desire to silence. #16tovote
sciville Mostly since, as I’ve asked before… WTF does “too immature to vote” even mean?! Who are you to judge that? #16tovote
silverwolf1977 Too immature to vote means adults are scared of the new ideas youth would bring. #16tovote
youthrights Voting rights are like free speech, in that you can’t stop votes you think are bad. Only remedy is more votes! #16tovote
youthrights In other words, if you’re so worried a teen (or anyone) is voting a way you don’t like, then be sure you get your own ballot in! #16tovote
youthrights We can’t micromanage the reasons teens vote. They have their own reasons just as you do. If worried, communicate! #16tovote
silverwolf1977 Teens should be able to vote because they’re US citizens.
sciville Working teens pay income taxes but still can’t vote. Sounds like “taxation without representation”. Sounds familiar… #16tovote
youthrights Austria and Brazil let you vote at 16, as do parts of Germany, UK, and Switzerland. Going well! #16tovote
Jordan_Carr They can be tried as adults, so they should be treated like adults. Fix the voting age, it’s the better option. #16tovote
youthrights Thanks everyone for the great #16tovote tweets so far today! Going very well! 🙂
teh_maxh Yes, most teens ARE too stupid to vote, but they stay that way when they turn eighteen. #16tovote bitches.
youthrights Why lower the voting age? Because youth get subject to laws like this: http://tinyurl.com/3uxj47j And have no say in it. #16tovote
youthrights When you can’t vote for those in charge, those in charge don’t see your rights and interests as a priority. #16tovote
sciville Lower voting age so officials cutting school funding have to answer directly to the students whose schools they’re hurting. #16tovote
sciville Lower voting age so officials who haven’t banned school paddling yet have to answer to the students being paddled. #16tovote #FightthePaddle
erynhartmier since education is the key to a brighter future, we need to give youth a say in the education system! LOWER THE VOTING AGE #16tovote
teh_maxh #16tovote: It’s not like the electoral process can get MORE fucked up.
youthrights Without the teen vote, politicians will legislate based on adult voters’ idea of teens rather than what teens really are. #16tovote
youthrights Once again, here’s @jnadel’s recent radio spot talking about LOWERING THE VOTING AGE!!! http://youtu.be/uYgH_4EKFrY #16tovote
JoeUnfiltered With all the policies that are created that impact education, students must have a voice in deciding who makes the decisions. #16tovote
youthrights Yes, a lower voting age means you’d be on equal footing with teens. No, that does not insult you in any way. #16tovote
JoeUnfiltered If you can be licensed to operate a car at 16, which can kill someone, shouldn’t you be allowed to vote? #16tovote
youthrights Once again, here’s Top 10 Reasons to Lower the Voting Age! 🙂 http://www.youthrights.org/vote10.php #16tovote
youthrights If people are so worried about how teens will vote, then try actually talking to them and engaging them. Don’t silence them. #16tovote
youthrights You can’t legislate based on stereotypes, which is what is done to teens now since officials don’t have to listen to them. #16tovote
youthrights Democracy is about consent of the governed. Youth are governed and restricted more than prisoners are, but can’t consent (vote). #16tovote
youthrights Politicians scapegoat and exploit youth for political gain because they can’t vote so they don’t need to see them as people. #16tovote
youthrights As a youth org, we’ve seen what amazing things youth do when involved and treated as equals. We want it for the whole world! #16tovote
youthrights Short news blurb about our friends at @Vote17Lowell and their campaign to lower the voting age in MA! http://bit.ly/hSWo0x #16tovote #vote17
youthrights Check out @UsielX’s speech on free speech, entertainment, and voting rights at Supreme Court! http://youtu.be/sVFWwGyPAX4 #16tovote
teh_maxh Support #16tovote or be the first against the wall when the revolution comes.
youthrights NYS Senator Eric Adams openly supports invading teen privacy in name of “safety”. Those whose rights he disregards can’t vote. #16tovote
youthrights Here’s our own @jnadel (then 17) debating Sen Adams about it: http://youtu.be/GDBqm1WBc6g The only one making sense couldn’t vote! #16tovote
youthrights Mentioned the LA curfew earlier. That’s a law restricting and criminalizing youth, set by officials youth could not vote for. #16tovote
youthrights 19 states still allow corporal punishment in school. Students can’t vote out the officials who support it. #16tovote #FightthePaddle
drewmm10 States need to equalize the voting age and the age at which kids can be tried as adults. #16tovote http://bit.ly/g2SoI3 #S4P
youthrights Might add that teens’ taxes pay for the schools they attend everyday whose boards they cannot vote for. #16tovote
youthrights All teens are at risk of being sent to these places: http://bit.ly/dy2UMY And can’t vote out politicians who won’t shut them down. #16tovote
youthrights Lowering the voting age is about teens being PEOPLE in the political realm, rather than their voting parents’ emotional baggage. #16tovote
youthrights Teens can write letters to reps, sure, but without being able to vote, the power of that is very limited. #16tovote
evilfoods @GravyINC we need more voters #16tovote
evilfoods 16 is a start #16tovote
evilfoods because kids need to be seen and herd #16tovote
youthrights This is #16tovote on the 16th! We’re tweeting for lowering the voting age with the #16tovote hashtag. Support it? Join in! 🙂
youthrights Here’s a debate our executive director @kpalicz was in a few years back on the voting age: http://bit.ly/dlOyNv 🙂 #16tovote
youthrights Lots of great people are seeking #edreform! If students could vote, great changes would likely much quicker! 🙂 #16tovote
Al_ssa If students could vote, what would school look like? What would the world look like? @youthrights #16tovote
Jordan_Carr Cut spending to schools? Let the people it affects voice their opinions. #16tovote
taradinoc #16tovote to stop speech restrictions like this before they make it to court: http://digs.by/elIOeR
youthrights The 26th Amendment lowered the voting age from 21 to 18 and forbids raising it. Lowering it is okay, though! 🙂 #16tovote
amisophe #16tovote because #neverforget the power of “youthful idealism” – no one’s ever changed the world without that kind of belief.
youthrights Ann Coulter suggested repealing the 26th Amendment! Here’s @kpalicz’s great rebuttal: http://huff.to/ijN8nT 🙂 #16tovote
youthrights Can’t solve issues of whether teens (or anyone) vote for the right reasons by withholding rights. Solve it by better information. #16tovote
youthrights Doesn’t matter if (some) teens live with parents and don’t work. Would you disenfranchise unemployed 30yo who lives with parents? #16tovote
youthrights Teen behaviors often get brought up, that are prevalent among adults too and have little to nothing to do with voting. #16tovote
the_boy It’d be pretty fantastic if everyone stopped talking about passing debt on to the next generation & let the generation vote on it #16ToVote
sciville Democratic schools, where students have a say, are few but thriving. Why can’t the whole country be like that? #16tovote
sciville If a teen votes for your candidate, do you really care if she voted “immaturely”? 😛 #16tovote
sciville Or is the concern about “voting immaturely” really about “voting differently from me”? 😉 #16tovote
youthrights Youth, like all ages, vote for the candidate that addresses them and their issues. Make sure you’re that candidate. 😉 #16tovote
youthrights Lowering the voting age for school board elections means officials must answer to all students, not just a token one or few. #16tovote
youthrights Students should vote for their own school officials for the same reason Vermonters vote for Vermont politicians. 😛 #16tovote
sciville Why are students’ free speech rights under attack so much? Lower the damn voting age so officials would dare anymore! 😛 #16tovote
youthrights Our Southeast FL chapter rallied on Election Day last year! Check out the pics: http://on.fb.me/i2dxtX 🙂 #16tovote
sciville Me: http://on.fb.me/ikoTZh “Don’t Govern Without the CONSENT of YOUTH!” Yes, I wrote #16tovote on the sign. 😛
youthrights Some states allow you to vote in the primary at 17 if you’ll be 18 by general! 🙂 #16tovote
youthrights In states that are solidly red or blue, the primary is more important than general, so it’s essentially a 17 voting age! 😀 #16tovote
youthrights In any case, primaries still matter, 17yos can vote in them in some states, so the 18 barrier has been broken! Let’s keep going! #16tovote
youthrights When society trusts youth with a vote, a voice, then youth will have more trust and partake more in society positively. 🙂 #16tovote
youthrights Alright, 3 hours to go in this Saturday Edition of #16tovote on the 16th! Keep up the great #16tovote tweets! 🙂
youthrights Once again, here’s our voting age TV ad starring @nyrasefl! http://youtu.be/k7XtMb6ig38 #16tovote
youthrights Easier to begin voting at 16 than 18, and early start to voting means making it a habit, increasing voter turnout! #16tovote
sciville The voting age is a line on a calendar saying “If you were born after this line, STFU, you don’t matter.” #16tovote
youthrights Without voting rights, laws made about youth are without their input or consent. This is not just. Let’s lower the voting age! #16tovote
youthrights What would #16tovote look like? About the same, really, but with young people having more say in things, seat at the table, involvement.
youthrights But even that little bit of say, seat at the table, and involvement is a very important step toward even more rights and freedom! #16tovote
youthrights Imagine having no vote while most of the voting population has a negative opinion of you. Feel safe? Didn’t think so. #16tovote
youthrights A teen would go into the voting booth and vote for some candidates she believes fit for the job. What’s wrong with that? #16tovote
youthrights Parents can’t vote on their kids’ behalf. Parents and kids are separate people and don’t have identical values. #16tovote
youthrights Parent can’t vote on kid’s behalf because he/she gets only the one vote! One vote can represent only one person. #16tovote
teh_maxh If a parent can vote for their kid, making the exact same decisions, then why can’t the kid vote for themself? #16tovote
youthrights As things are now, teens cannot vote for the government that happily takes their hard-earned tax dollars. #16tovote
youthrights If teen criminals are “mature” enough for adult prisons, why aren’t law-abiding teens “mature” enough to vote? #16tovote
youthrights Discussion on our forums about “abolishing voting age” vs. “lowering to 16”: http://bit.ly/fFViyY #16tovote
nickj47 Young people work, pay taxes, commit crimes, serve punishments, do community service, laugh, cry, feel… Why shouldn’t they vote? #16tovote
youthrights May see a lower voting age in Massachusetts soon! Follow our friends @Vote17Lowell for more info!!! 😀 #16tovote #vote17
youthrights 16 minutes left of #16tovote on the 16th! 😛
evilfoods #16tovote becuse teens want pay taxes and do jury dudey.
youthrights Can seem odd to support a lower voting age when many people believe teens contribute little of value. Not true at all, of course. #16tovote
youthrights Teens are just as, if not more, invested in the well-being of our society, as they are the present AND the future! #16tovote
teh_maxh Teens suck, but so do you. #16tovote
youthrights 80% of teens work and thus pay income tax before age 18. More teens volunteer in communities than any other age group. #16tovote
youthrights Teens have campaigned for voting rights in FL, CA, NY, WA, MD, MA, and other states in the past several years. #16tovote
youthrights Some other countries already let 16-year-olds vote and have high turnout. More are considering it. The whole EU is considering it! #16tovote
gabjoh @youthrights Bunch of young people (even 16-18) super involved here at #powershift clean energy conference! #16tovote
youthrights Youth are and always have been extremely socially conscious, and it’s time to recognize that by granting voting rights. 🙂 #16tovote
youthrights And… that does it for another fantastic edition of #16tovote on the 16th!!! Thanks so much, everyone! Feed-clogging credits soon. 😛
youthrights Check out the Voting Age section of our website for more info: http://www.youthrights.org/votingage.php #16tovote
youthrights Thanks for the #16tovote tweets! @1SunRisen @sciville @arclights @CosmUnity @TeaAndVodka @EIFY @TheLillyTheory @tomwburke @drewmm10 @the_boy
youthrights Thanks for the #16tovote tweets! @jingurei @IrisVanRooij @GrahamJones_MP @silverwolf1977 @DegrassiPwns @Jordan_Carr @petpluto @MaireadCarr
youthrights Thanks for the #16tovote tweets! @nicolecornu @publichistorian @teh_maxh @OnBradstreet @AniLacy @marissavessels @erynhartmier @ForeverAsking
youthrights Thanks for the #16tovote tweets! @JoeUnfiltered @nickj47 @taradinoc @JonSM99 @AParentsChoice @evilfoods @Al_ssa @mightymarce @amisophe
youthrights Thanks for the #16tovote tweets! @tiivc @RickTRMusic @DeathFromNG @Shazzackelee @nwparsons @jamirohertje @gabjoh @schoe22 @mynextstepinc
youthrights Thanks again for another great #16tovote on the 16th, those participating and questioning. 😉 We do it again Monday, May 16! Goodnight! 😀
youthrights Oh, and yes, next month will be the 16th run of #16tovote on the 16th! 😉
Thanks everyone! See you 5/16! 🙂
