I wish that all voters, had to pass the same test, on American history and civics, that immigrants have to pass, in order to get citizenship. That way, the native born voters would at least be as informed as immigrants are, in order to be able to vote. But of course, it would never happen, with the way pols of both parties, pander to the white folks here.

@TomMcGiverin If a 16 year old could pass a history/civics or citizenship test why not let them vote?

@Scott321 Because they might not be mature enough? Some of them are, some aren't. I was, at that age, I think, but many adults, in my experience, don't seem any more mentally or emotionally mature than some 16 yo. It's the same with parenthood. We allow anyone to breed, even tho it is clear, that many people never grow up enough to become competent parents. Where do you draw the line? I wish that people needed a license and had to pass some competency test, before they could breed, but it will never happen either..

@Gwendolyn2018
It’s not unheard of that those on the upper end become senile. We can point to the brain not maturing until one is 23+ but senescence rears its head too. I am closer now to that so should be biased against what I am saying.

@Scott321 In my experience, as the spouse of someone who died of dementia, most older folks who develop it also quit voting, on their own, after they have already quit or been forced to stop, driving, as well. So there is little effect on voting, from people who actually have dementia, and become homebound or confined to a nursing home, etc.. By the time dementia has become middle or late stage, they have long since given up following things like politics, even the news..

@TomMcGiverin Sorry I should not have focused on senility which I realize was insensitive, especially given my own personal experience with a parent. My focus would be more on the general decline we might each experience with age without the tragic endpoint some reach. And that stance is to flip the argument about being mature enough to vote.

@Scott321 No worries, Scott. I did not take offense. And your point was well taken. There is a general decline, with very old age, in most people, but not all. It is the same with driving privileges, where we need to weed out as many as possible, of the older, impaired drivers, thru testing, etc., so that they don't endanger themselves and others. And we don't do it by banning all people over 70 from driving, but we do, at least in my state, begin requiring them to pass a behind the wheel driving test, every two years, after they reach age 70. That is a fair way to weed out the impaired drivers, and still let the competent ones keep driving, rather than arbitrarily banning anyone over a certain age.

Know better equals senile old bigots wearing red hats declaring allegiance to a dime store dictator who might write a book about his struggle from prison.

Yeah maybe we should set an upper age limit on voting. That might fix many of our problems. Why target solely the young as incompetent? We know why. Trump and Biden should be ineligible to run if there is a lower bound.

Vaguely reminds me of a Star Trek episode.

Half the country will vote for a toddler anyway.