Changing the voting age is one change, but making voting non compulsory for some voters starts to get messy. It would also be an easy thing for a government to tweak to reduce youth voter turnout by shifting that number around.
To be clear, I am asking why the “push” is for compulsory and not optional, given there is likely to be stronger opposition to the former. Either will give a voice to those who want one, but on paper optional would seem to be a more realistic goal and therefore makes more sense to advocate for. Advocating for compulsory kind of feels like letting perfect be the enemy of good, so to speak.
irasponsible@beehaw.org 2 months ago
jagungal@lemmy.world 2 months ago
The push is to lower the voting age to 16. Voting is compulsory, hence the headline. Plus, I doubt making it optional until 18 would change many people’s minds on whether or not we should lower the voting age.
zik@aussie.zone 2 months ago
Why not start them off in the way you mean to continue? It’s not like there are any significant downsides.
Ilandar@aussie.zone 2 months ago
Increased opposition is a significant downside.