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Uncut: Sweet, Smart 16?

There's a move afoot by District officials in Washington DC to lower the voting age from 18 to 16…not just in local elections but national, as well.

There’s a move afoot by District officials in Washington DC to lower the voting age from 18 to 16…not just in local elections but national, as well.

In Maryland, the towns of Takoma Park and Hyattsville already let 16-year-olds vote in local races. In 15 states, 17-year-olds can vote in primaries that nominate candidates for governor congress and president.

But so far, nowhere in America can 16-year-old vote directly for President... at least, not yet.

Supporters of the change on the DC City Council and some youth organizations argue: it’s a fairness issue. If you’re 16, there are no restrictions on how many hours you work, you can drive, you can pay taxes. They want to end what they call taxation without representation.

They point to Germany, Brazil...the United Kingdom as just a few of the countries already allowing it.

The sponsor of the measure in Washington D.C. says he was partly inspired by the way young people organized themselves politically after the recent spate of mass shootings at schools.

In his city, lowering that voting age would add another 10-thousand people the number of eligible voters.

The DC City Council’s Judiciary and Public Safety committee approved the idea… and word is.. a majority on the full Council will make it law sometime this month.

You might think they don’t that have that power to do that, but scholars contend while the 26th Amendment guarantees people 18 and over the right to vote, it contains no language thwarting an effort to set a lower age.

While 16 seems a bit young to me, I can recall the outrage when the age dropped from 21 to 18 and I got a chance to use my vote to do my part… to heal a nation that seemed headed off the deep end.

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