lower the primary voting age?

[ButterflyBlood]

i know someone who turns 18 just before the November election. he absolutely hates * and will vote for whoever wins the nomination against him no matter what, but he's mad he can't vote for Dean, his candidate of choice in the primaries. I actually do think this is a bit of a problem, if a person can vote in the general why can't they have a say for who they can vote for? So I'd lower the voting age for primaries from those who would turn 18 before the general election, not those who are 18 at the time. what do you think?

[dobak]

1. true, but I think it would be very complicated...

and it also affects only a small percentage of voters (those who turn 18 between the end of January and early November)

[Liberal Christian]

2. I say let your friend wait

so he remembers that voting is a privilege not to be taken lightly.

The same thing happened to me in 1972. I was working eight hours a day after school for McGovern in the primary. I walked miles doing lit drops and dialed a zillion phone calls. I went to Omaha to work in that primary and hand wrote personal letters to registered Democrats urging them to vote.

I was unable to vote in that primary, but I like to think that the work I did made more of a difference than the one vote I did have. I turned 18 in August of that year and was able to vote in the general (and weep as McGovern made his concession speech).

[SadEagle]

3. Re-check the state's laws.

Many states allow 17 year-olds to vote in the primaries if they'll be 18 by the GE. Maybe your friend's state allows that, too.

[EDT]

4. The older I get, the dumber young kids seem-

Maybe I'm just a grumpy old man, but I've seen a couple threads here on lowering voting age, etc... and I think we'd all be making wiser choices if the voting age was RAISED to 40. By then, most people are more mature. No 18 year old has seen enough of the world, or had enough experience, as passionate as they may be, to make the best decision, unless it's by chance.

Grumpy old guy.