As Democrats feel threatened by the new Republican-controlled Congress, the party is playing dirty to gain more votes in the next election by lowering the voting age.
On Thursday, a group of House Democrats proposed an amendment that would lower the voting age in the U.S. from 18 to 16 years old.
The joint resolution was introduced by New York Rep. Grace Ment, along with 12 co-sponsors. The 26th Amendment only allows citizens 18 years of age and older to vote. This joint resolution would change that.
“The right of citizens of the United States, who are sixteen years of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of age,” the bill states.
Meng hasn’t released a statement on her proposal, but she previously released a statement in the last Congress, indicating her support for lowering the voting age.
“Our young people, including 16- and 17-year-olds, continue to fight and advocate for so many issues that they are passionate about from gun safety to the climate crisis,” she said at the time. “They have been tremendously engaged on policies affecting their lives and their futures.”
While Democrats did nothing to advance Meng’s proposal in the last Congress, many lawmakers in the party supported the idea of a lower voting age as it would help them further their liberal causes.
Democrats introduced a bill to lower the voting age to 16. 🤦♂️ They’re running scared and it’s embarrassing.
— OEF VET (@OEFvetted) January 15, 2023
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, for example, has previously said that she is in favor of lowering the voting age to 16.
“I myself, personally, I’m not speaking for my caucus, I myself have always been for lowering the voting age to 16,” Pelosi said in 2019. “I think it’s really important to capture kids when they’re in high school when they’re interested in all of this when they’re learning about government to be able to vote.”
This comes as lowering the voting age is becoming increasingly popular across the country, namely in Maryland, where some cities currently let 16-year-olds vote.
Chuck Corra, associate director of coalitions and policy research at Generation Citizen, likened registering to vote to getting a driver’s license, so “it’s only natural that we should be able to trust young people of that age to be able to vote and have a say in the policies that are affecting them.”
“It comes back to taxation with representation in its purest form,” Corra added.
