Roger, you made some very good points as you were recounting the reasons for greater enfranchisement, but then, I think, didn’t do such a good job refuting them.
You say, “we may be pretty confident that some people really do have poor judgment.” For 16-year-olds in particular, I think you miss the mark here. They are not children and should, in no way, be compared to the mentally incompetent or to 5-year-olds. A 16-year-old has the same cognitive and reasoning abilities as an adult, in fact their raw brain power may even be more than that of an average adult.
Society has judged them to be sufficiently competent to pay taxes, get jobs, drop out of school, and receive adult punishments for crimes. How can someone be a fully capable adult if they kill someone, but a brainless little kid if they want to vote?
Ask your average teen about politics and they know as much as your average adult (which isn’t saying much, but isn’t a reason to stop them from voting). I am by no means a Leftist or a Liberal, but I think lowering the voting age to 16 is a reasonable step that serves the moral and utilitarian interests of both the Right and the Left.
