Rep. Ayanna Pressley this week proposed lowering the voting age from 18 to 16, declaring that she does not question “the maturity of our youth.”
Pressley introduced the amendment to the For the People Act which would allow Americans as young as 16 to vote in federal elections. The measure failed Thursday and further discussion was “postponed.”
“Beginning at the age of sixteen, young people are contributing to both the labor force and their local economies by paying income taxes, and yet they are deprived of the opportunity to exercise their right to vote,” Pressley said on the House floor Thursday. “Some have questioned the maturity of our youth. I don’t.”