A very smart guy running for the GOP presidential nomination not named Donald Trump has a different way of looking at civics and citizenship in the modern age, and we have to say we tend to agree with them.
OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author’s opinion.
Vivek Ramaswamy, 37, has put forth the idea of increasing the voting age to 25 with the intention of reinstating the significance of voting as a civic duty. The proposal aims to ensure that young individuals have the required knowledge and experience to make well-informed decisions.
He wants to amend the Constitution to make the changes he endorses.
“We want to restore civic duty to in the mindset of the next generation of Americans and how we want to do it is to say that if you want to vote as an 18-year-old between the ages of 18 and 25, you need to either do your civic duty through service to the country that’s six months of service in either military service or in a first responder, including police, fire, or otherwise,” he has said.
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Ramaswamy argues that the existing voting age of 18 is arbitrary and does not automatically ensure that individuals possess the essential knowledge and experience to make informed decisions.
“Or else you have to pass the same civics test that an immigrant has to pass in order to become a naturalized citizen who can vote in this country. At age 25, that falls away. So in a nutshell, what we’re proposing is a constitutional amendment to raise the voting age to 25,” he added.
And mind you, his recommendation is 180 degrees the opposite of what many Democrats have called for — lowering the voting age to 16 (while preventing those same individuals from buying a guy, purchasing alcohol, buying cigarettes, or seeing an adult film).
Despite Ramaswamy’s contemplation of raising the voting age since the start of his presidential campaign in February, his team initially advised against it.
“Most of the team has not been for this,” according to a campaign adviser who spoke anonymously to Politico.
Advocates of raising the voting age to 25 propose it as a way to ensure that individuals have the requisite knowledge and experience to make well-informed decisions during elections. Supporters of this proposal often highlight several potential benefits associated with increasing the voting age.
For a significant period, the voting age stood at 21 until it came under scrutiny during the Vietnam War. In 1970, Congress passed a law that lowered the voting age to 18 for all federal, state, and local elections.
This change was partially in response to the inconsistency of young men being drafted into the military to fight in Vietnam without having the right to vote.
Disclaimer: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author’s opinion.