Memo to the U.S. Electorate: Ready or not, it’s time to make room.
A legion of 16- and 17-year-olds vies for a place at your nearby polling station. In several cities around the country, they’re already voting in local elections. A wealth of data supports the wisdom of enfranchising young voters — turnout is high in this age group, and neuroscience suggests their brains are primed for calculated decision-making. Countries that have implemented age-16 voting before now have found that cultivating good civic behaviors early leads to long-term engagement, both for young voters and for those around them.
