Minimum Voting Age

Governor Inslee,

Hello, I am RJ Dearing. I am a sophomore at Washington Virtual Academies and I am writing to you to tell you why you should change the minimum age to vote to be at least closer to sixteen years of age. The younger generation of teens and young adults who also have a few opinions on politics like myself would love to voice our opinions on our own ballets. The only problem is the minimum age to vote right now is eighteen. A whole two years of waiting for our voices to be heard, when all you have to do is change the minimum age and let us have our voice heard on political matters.

Right now, the minimum voting age is eighteen. While this is a good starting point where some young adults can have the ability to vote, teens

like us do not have the privilege to voice our own opinions. In my school, we have a system of student government similar to our nation’s system. We vote for a president, create clubs with enough votes, and even elect representatives of each homeroom class. Compared to your system of government, the only thing that’s missing from ours are laws. You and many other governors help make laws for our states to abide by, and even pass laws on to the senate to vote on. If we have the ability to vote for our school, and how we have a flourishing system of government, there shouldn’t be an issue with letting us vote for other things, such as different orders and even governors like you.
For example, last year, there was a vote going on for building a new public school in the Southern Kitsap County School District. I, myself wanted to vote for this cause, but as I am sixteen years of age, my voice wasn’t heard. Building a new school closer to rural areas such as my own would have been a great investment. High School students such as me would have made sure to vote for whatever they thought was right. But as for other cases, no matter how many voices wanted to be heard, they were ignored.
Now, to lighten the mood a little, how about some trivia? What are the similarities between these three things? Owning a driver’s license, getting a job, and drinking beer or wine with a meal. The similarities are the age. If you can do all of these things two years before you can even vote for the future of your own state or country, there is something seriously wrong. This is why I am making a stand and telling all teenagers and adults alike to make the government lower the minimum voting age from eighteen to sixteen.

Sincerely,

RJ Dearing