On Wednesday, the House voted 302-125 to reject a measure proposed by “Squad” member Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., to lower the age to vote in federal elections to 16.
The measure was proposed as an amendment to HR-1, “For The People Act of 2021,” an 800-page bill imposing sweeping election regulations on donors and advertisements. HR-1 would provide Congress the “ultimate supervisory power over federal elections,” and permit ballot harvesting in every state, a process that involves paid operatives who collect dozens of ballots and bring them to a polling place. Ballot harvesting is presently legal in 27 states and has been the target of numerous fraud controversies and allegations.
The legislation would also mandate that states offer mail-in ballot options, preparing for a repeat of the chaos of 2020, in which well more than one-third of votes were cast by mail-in ballots. HR-1 passed in the House on Wednesday 221-210. For it to pass the Senate, 10 Republicans would have to support it, as well as all 50 Democrats in the caucus. A version of the present legislation passed 234-193 in the House last year, failing in the Senate.
“My amendment gets to the heart of H.R. 1 and recognizes the contributions that young people continue to make to our democracy,” Pressley said. “By lowering the federal voting age from 18 to 16 years of age, my amendment would enfranchise young Americans.”
Rep. @AyannaPressley: "My amendment gets to the heart of H.R. 1 and recognizes the contributions that young people continue to make to our democracy. By lowering the federal voting age from 18 to 16 years of age, my amendment would enfranchise young Americans." pic.twitter.com/NO9c4tzLRY
— The Hill (@thehill) March 3, 2021
In 1971, the 26th Amendment lowered the federal voting age to 18. At the time, 18-year-olds could purchase tobacco, alcohol, fight for their country in the armed forces, and so on. But Pressley’s measure to lower the voting age to 16 is a total gag—an idea that any practical person would recognize as insane.
“When i was 16, my friends and i bought a live lobster, put it on a leash, and walked it around the neighborhood at 2am,” tweeted Daily Caller social media and communications director Logan Hall back in 2019 when Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said lowering the voting age to 16 is “really important.”
when i was 16, my friends and i bought a live lobster, put it on a leash, and walked it around the neighborhood at 2am https://t.co/8NBuLTCjYu
— Logan Hall (@loganclarkhall) March 15, 2019
“When I was 16 I put my dogs electric fence collar around my neck and shocked myself to see what it felt like. Full stop,” tweeted Daily Wire reporter Chrissy Clark while the House was voting on the amendment.
When I was 16 I put my dogs electric fence collar around my neck and shocked myself to see what it felt like.
Full stop. https://t.co/Z7T7ibueyB
— Chrissy Clark (@chrissyclark_) March 3, 2021
Sixteen-year-olds are most likely sophomores in high school, perhaps just learning how to drive, and have just finished stage-five puberty, on average. Are we really supposed to entrust children with deciding our political future?
Pressley told critical race theorist Ibram X. Kendi in February that she was “shocked” that the idea of lowering the federal voting age would lead to such “polarizing” debate among lawmakers.
“Dr. Kendi, I was shocked by how polarizing an issue this was, and listen, when I would tell people [the late Rep.] John Lewis is an original co-sponsor of this — you know, our young people deserve to have a stakeholder in our democracy,” Pressley said, also offering that it would benefit the nation by an “antiracist” policy.
In March 2019, Pressley previously proposed to allow 16-year-olds to vote in federal elections, as an amendment to the prior version of the “For The People Act.” It only received 126 votes.
.@RepPressley introduces amendment on lowering voting age: "In this country we affirm that when a person walks into the voting booth & pulls that lever, there is no meritocracy or hierarchy. The booth is the equalizer…Some have questioned the maturity of our youth. I don't." pic.twitter.com/dJtTHD0kRk
— CSPAN (@cspan) March 7, 2019
It is clear why the left wants to pass this bill and has tried for several years. According to Tufts University analysis, President Joe Biden received a major boost in the 2020 presidential election from voters aged 18-29, Biden’s highest demographic. One can only imagine just how many elections the Democratic Party would be able to pull off if its candidates could rake in votes from 16-year-olds—who are just emerging into adulthood, highly malleable, and at the mercy of far-left educators across the country.
