Voting Age For Women

[DebateChallenge]

Originally women weren't allowed to vote. Thankfully that has changed and they can vote and Im all for that. But what I want to discuss here is the women's right to vote and the age to vote. Back in the day the age to vote was 21. That all changed in the Vietnam war when young men were being drafted at 18 and they made the case that if they could get drafted and if they could serve they should be able to pick their Commander In Chief so therefore they should be allowed to vote. From then on the voting age was lowered to 18 since it was only fair that if a person could be drafted they should be allowed to vote. That makes sense. However, as it was the voting age was lowered from 21 to 18 for both men and women and that's how it is today. I was thinking if the voting age for women should've been kept at 21 since women don't get drafted. The whole issue of lowering the voting age to 18 was that men were being drafted at 18 but since women don't get drafted should they also be allowed to vote at 18 and not have to wait until they're 21?

 

[lurchadams]

Originally women weren't allowed to vote. Thankfully that has changed and they can vote and Im all for that. But what I want to discuss here is the women's right to vote and the age to vote. Back in the day the age to vote was 21. That all changed in the Vietnam war when young men were being drafted at 18 and they made the case that if they could get drafted and if they could serve they should be able to pick their Commander In Chief so therefore they should be allowed to vote. From then on the voting age was lowered to 18 since it was only fair that if a person could be drafted they should be allowed to vote. That makes sense. However, as it was the voting age was lowered from 21 to 18 for both men and women and that's how it is today. I was thinking if the voting age for women should've been kept at 21 since women don't get drafted. The whole issue of lowering the voting age to 18 was that men were being drafted at 18 but since women don't get drafted should they also be allowed to vote at 18 and not have to wait until they're 21?

There is no draft in the United States for either men or women.

 

[Bodi]

Originally women weren't allowed to vote. Thankfully that has changed and they can vote and Im all for that. But what I want to discuss here is the women's right to vote and the age to vote. Back in the day the age to vote was 21. That all changed in the Vietnam war when young men were being drafted at 18 and they made the case that if they could get drafted and if they could serve they should be able to pick their Commander In Chief so therefore they should be allowed to vote. From then on the voting age was lowered to 18 since it was only fair that if a person could be drafted they should be allowed to vote. That makes sense. However, as it was the voting age was lowered from 21 to 18 for both men and women and that's how it is today. I was thinking if the voting age for women should've been kept at 21 since women don't get drafted. The whole issue of lowering the voting age to 18 was that men were being drafted at 18 but since women don't get drafted should they also be allowed to vote at 18 and not have to wait until they're 21?

voting age should be 21 again unless the person is in the military... then it can be 18.

 

[Bodi]

There is no draft in the United States for either men or women.

What happened in WWII and Korea and Vietnam?

 

[Jredbaron96]

Originally women weren't allowed to vote. Thankfully that has changed and they can vote and Im all for that. But what I want to discuss here is the women's right to vote and the age to vote. Back in the day the age to vote was 21. That all changed in the Vietnam war when young men were being drafted at 18 and they made the case that if they could get drafted and if they could serve they should be able to pick their Commander In Chief so therefore they should be allowed to vote. From then on the voting age was lowered to 18 since it was only fair that if a person could be drafted they should be allowed to vote. That makes sense. However, as it was the voting age was lowered from 21 to 18 for both men and women and that's how it is today. I was thinking if the voting age for women should've been kept at 21 since women don't get drafted. The whole issue of lowering the voting age to 18 was that men were being drafted at 18 but since women don't get drafted should they also be allowed to vote at 18 and not have to wait until they're 21?

I had never been in favor of an IQ check before voting until I read this post.

 

[Mr Person]

Only way that works is via constitutional amendment. But whatever. Weird and absurd idea.

 

[Jetboogieman]

voting age should be 21 again unless the person is in the military... then it can be 18.

Why?

Nothing magical happens on ones 18th birthday that makes them more or less mature to be in the Military, drink, vote, drive or whatever, it also doesn't magically happen on a persons 21st birthday either...

 

[tres borrachos]

Originally women weren't allowed to vote. Thankfully that has changed and they can vote and Im all for that. But what I want to discuss here is the women's right to vote and the age to vote. Back in the day the age to vote was 21. That all changed in the Vietnam war when young men were being drafted at 18 and they made the case that if they could get drafted and if they could serve they should be able to pick their Commander In Chief so therefore they should be allowed to vote. From then on the voting age was lowered to 18 since it was only fair that if a person could be drafted they should be allowed to vote. That makes sense. However, as it was the voting age was lowered from 21 to 18 for both men and women and that's how it is today. I was thinking if the voting age for women should've been kept at 21 since women don't get drafted. The whole issue of lowering the voting age to 18 was that men were being drafted at 18 but since women don't get drafted should they also be allowed to vote at 18 and not have to wait until they're 21?

You can sign a contract in this country at 18. What does the draft have to do with voting?

 

[DebateChallenge]

There is no draft in the United States for either men or women.

Only because we're not at war. Whenever we're at war the draft is enacted.

 

[Redress]

What happened in WWII and Korea and Vietnam?

You might not be aware of it, but the draft has been done away with, and is unlikely to return. The last soldiers drafted in the US happened in December 1972.

 

[Gaius46]

Originally women weren't allowed to vote. Thankfully that has changed and they can vote and Im all for that. But what I want to discuss here is the women's right to vote and the age to vote. Back in the day the age to vote was 21. That all changed in the Vietnam war when young men were being drafted at 18 and they made the case that if they could get drafted and if they could serve they should be able to pick their Commander In Chief so therefore they should be allowed to vote. From then on the voting age was lowered to 18 since it was only fair that if a person could be drafted they should be allowed to vote. That makes sense. However, as it was the voting age was lowered from 21 to 18 for both men and women and that's how it is today. I was thinking if the voting age for women should've been kept at 21 since women don't get drafted. The whole issue of lowering the voting age to 18 was that men were being drafted at 18 but since women don't get drafted should they also be allowed to vote at 18 and not have to wait until they're 21?

That's frankly a silly rationale. Being 18 and in the military doesn't give one any extra special insight to make one more likely to cast a reasonable vote than any other 18 year old.

 

[Gaius46]

Only because we're not at war. Whenever we're at war the draft is enacted.

We've been at war since 2001 - those just haven't been declared.

 

[DebateChallenge]

voting age should be 21 again unless the person is in the military... then it can be 18.

Dude, you're from New Zealand, how you run your country is your business. I am in the USA, I am an American citizen, you are not. As such how things are done in the USA should be my concern and not yours. How things are done in the USA is none of your concern and quite frankly none of your business.

 

[DebateChallenge]

What does the draft have to do with voting?

As I said, the reason why the voting age was lowered from 21 to 18 was because people were being drafted at 18.

 

[DebateChallenge]

We've been at war since 2001 - those just haven't been declared.

We haven't been at war to the extent that we've needed a draft.

 

[DebateChallenge]

That's frankly a silly rationale. Being 18 and in the military doesn't give one any extra special insight to make one more likely to cast a reasonable vote than any other 18 year old.

But if you can be involuntarily drafted, which could happen to any and all young men who were 18 during that era, its only fair to be allowed to vote.

 

[Gina]

Originally women weren't allowed to vote. Thankfully that has changed and they can vote and Im all for that. But what I want to discuss here is the women's right to vote and the age to vote. Back in the day the age to vote was 21. That all changed in the Vietnam war when young men were being drafted at 18 and they made the case that if they could get drafted and if they could serve they should be able to pick their Commander In Chief so therefore they should be allowed to vote. From then on the voting age was lowered to 18 since it was only fair that if a person could be drafted they should be allowed to vote. That makes sense. However, as it was the voting age was lowered from 21 to 18 for both men and women and that's how it is today. I was thinking if the voting age for women should've been kept at 21 since women don't get drafted. The whole issue of lowering the voting age to 18 was that men were being drafted at 18 but since women don't get drafted should they also be allowed to vote at 18 and not have to wait until they're 21?

In every respect except for drinking and smoking, 18-year-olds of both genders are treated as adults. Why would you want to restrict the right to vote of half the 18 to 20-year old population?

 

[HumblePi]

Originally women weren't allowed to vote. Thankfully that has changed and they can vote and Im all for that. But what I want to discuss here is the women's right to vote and the age to vote. Back in the day the age to vote was 21. That all changed in the Vietnam war when young men were being drafted at 18 and they made the case that if they could get drafted and if they could serve they should be able to pick their Commander In Chief so therefore they should be allowed to vote. From then on the voting age was lowered to 18 since it was only fair that if a person could be drafted they should be allowed to vote. That makes sense. However, as it was the voting age was lowered from 21 to 18 for both men and women and that's how it is today. I was thinking if the voting age for women should've been kept at 21 since women don't get drafted. The whole issue of lowering the voting age to 18 was that men were being drafted at 18 but since women don't get drafted should they also be allowed to vote at 18 and not have to wait until they're 21?

(So much for gender equality, eh?) Yeah the hell with women, they don't need to be equal to men at 18. (sarcasm)

The draft hasn't existed for 46 years. Women can give birth at 18 and I believe that anyone that can push a 8 pound human out of her womb really does deserve the right to vote.

 

[DebateChallenge]

In every respect except for drinking and smoking, 18-year-olds of both genders are treated as adults. Why would you want to restrict the right to vote of half the 18 to 20-year old population?

The age to smoke is 18, or maybe it's been raised to 19 in some states. I gave up smoking a long time ago so I wouldn't know.

But anyway the point is this, the reason why the voting age was lowered from 21 to 18 back in the 60s was because young men ages 18-20 were being drafted but were not allowed to vote. The said it was only fair that if they could be drafted they should be allowed to vote and so that was how the voting age got lowered to 18 and it was lowered to 18 for both men and women. That being the case, was it right back then to lower the voting age for women to 18? After all, they were not being drafted.

 

[tres borrachos]

As I said, the reason why the voting age was lowered from 21 to 18 was because people were being drafted at 18.

And the reason women weren't given the vote in the first place was because of men.

The draft is irrelevant. What's wrong with a woman voting at 18 when she can legally sign a contract?

 

[DebateChallenge]

The draft hasn't existed for 46 years. Women can give birth at 18 and I believe that anyone that can push a 8 pound human out of her womb really does deserve the right to vote.

Lots of women, or perhaps I should say in this case, girls, can give birth years before they're 18. Therefore maybe they should be allowed to vote at even younger ages, what do you think of that?

 

[DebateChallenge]

And the reason women weren't given the vote in the first place was because of men.

But by then we had solved that. Women were voting well before the 60s when the voting age was lowered.

 

[tres borrachos]

But by then we had solved that. Women were voting well before the 60s when the voting age was lowered.

You gave history. So did I. Now, please do articulate why you want to take away the right to vote of one half of the population between the ages of 18 and 21 today.

 

[Gaius46]

But if you can be involuntarily drafted, which could happen to any and all young men who were 18 during that era, its only fair to be allowed to vote.

But why?

Voting (should) demand that people be educated on the issues and the candidates so they can make an informed decision. Being 18 and in the military does not make you any more informed that any other 18 year old - many of whom are woefully uninformed. I understand that the rationale might be that they're serving their country but that does compensate for a presumed still immature critical thinking facility?

More importantly while our military veterans deserve our support we are not a militarist nation. We should not be giving a special class status to those in the military and giving 18 year old soldiers the right to vote but not every other 18 year old would do just that.

 

[DebateChallenge]

You gave history. So did I. Now, please do articulate why you want to take away the right to vote of one half of the population between the ages of 18 and 21 today.

We're not going to take it away today and that was not the question. The question is, did we do the right thing back then to lower the voting age from 21 to 18 across the board instead of just for men?