海角大神

Although it didn鈥檛 get much attention that I noticed here in the United States, the fact is that, for what I believe is the first time in British history,聽people under the age of 18 were permitted to vote on the independence referendum:

Since there was no exit polling conducted in connection with the referendum, it鈥檚 unclear how many of the teenagers who were eligible and registered to vote actually participated. However, given the massively high turnout that the vote generated and the attention that the vote was getting in the media in the United Kingdom in general and Scotland in particular, it鈥檚 quite probable that the turnout among this voting cohort was roughly comparable to the population as a whole. Despite the lack of exit polling, though, and based in large part on the polling noted above, there has been some speculation that these teenagers may very well have played a significant role in helping the referendum fail, although the margin of victory that 鈥楴o鈥� had on Thursday makes it obvious that there was more than just teenagers involved in saving the U.K. For the most part, though, it appears as though the decision to open up the vote to teenagers was successful in that it increased the number of voices taking part in the election and seemed to do a pretty good job of raising civic awareness among an age group that usually doesn鈥檛 pay close attention to such issues. The more interesting thing about the experiment, of course, was the fact that these young Scottish voters were just as divided as the issue of independence as the rest of Scotland. Quite obviously, then-First Minister Alex Salmond hoped that opening up the vote to teenagers would benefit the independence side of the debate, but if anything it appears that these voters may have been more favorable to the union, albeit by roughly the same margin as the rest of the country.

As it turns out, the idea of letting people under 18 vote isn鈥檛 entirely new. As聽Bloomberg鈥檚聽Francis Berry聽notes, 16- and 17-year-olds are already permitted to vote in national elections in nations such as Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, Nicaragua, the British islands of Gurensey, Isle of Man, and Jersey, and, as of 2007, Austria. Here in the United States, the city of Takoma Park in Maryland聽passed a law last year allowing teenagers to vote in municipal elections,聽and there is聽some talk of the same thing happening in other American cities.聽At least, in Austria, there appears to be some evidence that the extension of the franchise to teenagers has been successful in that聽turnout among this age group has actually been higher than among 18- to 21-year-olds.聽There are聽similar results in Denmark, where 16- and 17-year-olds are permitted to vote in local elections. The interesting question, of course, will be whether these newly enfranchised Austrian teenagers will carry that voting behavior into their late teens and early 20s, which seems to be an age group that tends to stay home on Election Day, regardless of which country you live in.

Scotland鈥檚 decision to let teenagers vote in the referendum, though, has perhaps inevitably led to a discussion about whether full voting rights should be extended to teenagers, both in the United Kingdom and the United States. Georgetown University Professor Jason Brennan, for example, argues that the success of the Scottish referendum is strong reason聽for the US to consider extending the franchise to younger voters:

Professor Brennan argues that, perhaps, the solution to the 鈥渒nowledge problem鈥� would be to allow 16- or 17-year-olds to vote if they are able to pass the citizenship test given to immigrants seeking to become citizens. Since that is a test that would seem to be free from the objections regarding discrimination that have plagued voter tests in the past, perhaps that would be something that could work. However, as聽Ilya Somin聽noted when he wrote about this issue many years ago, it may be difficult, if not impossible, to create the incentives for local voting authorities that would lead them to create fair and neutral voter tests that wouldn鈥檛 be motivated by the desire to suppress voters who might vote for one party or the other, or minorities. That being said, assuming such a test can be created and fairly implemented, I have to agree with Somin that there doesn鈥檛 seem to be any reason why a teenager who is objectively more knowledgeable about government and politics than many adults should not be permitted to vote in elections that, without question, are going to have a profound impact on their future. Indeed, if it results in greater voter participation, as has apparently been recorded in Austria and Denmark, then it would be a good thing for the country overall.

Outside of the actions in Takoma Park, there is no real national movement in the United States to extend the franchise to anyone under 18. This is a stark contrast to the movement that led to the ratification of聽the 26th Amendment聽in less than three months in 1971, when the arguments about extending the franchise to 18- to 21-year-olds was rooted in no small part in the fact that these men were being drafted to fight in Vietnam but were not allowed to vote. There really aren鈥檛 any similar arguments regarding the urgency of extending the franchise to 16- and 17-year-olds, most of whom remain in school and under their parents care and supervision. While it鈥檚 true that this potential voting cohort will be profoundly impacted by the decisions made by politicians elected before they are eligible to vote, there does鈥檛 seem to be the same sense of urgency. Indeed, beyond the knowledge issue dealt with above, the fact that these potential voters don鈥檛 really have anything other than an abstract stake in society at this point in their lives is another argument against extending the franchise to them. That being said, the seemingly successful experiences of nations like Austria and Denmark, along with the decision to extend the franchise in Scotland for the limited purpose of the independence referendum, argues that it is at least an idea that ought to be considered, even if we don鈥檛 rush headlong into signing up high school seniors and juniors to vote.

Doug Mataconis appears on the Outside the Beltway blog at http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/

[Editor's note: Takoma Park was misspelled in sub-headline of the original version.]