If all ages are influenced by misinformation, should there be any age limits on voting?

This post was written by a student. It has not been fact checked or edited.

Lowering the voting age - Standpoint image 3

I firmly believe that citizens over the age of eighty should still be allowed to vote.

According to recent studies from prestigious universities and corporations such as Harvard and MIT, while cognitive ability may decrease as citizens age, most cognitive ability decrease is caused by neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. These diseases are progressive conditions, where toxic, misfolded proteins accumulate, causing chronic inflammation, mitochondrial dysfunction, and structural damage to neurons. This progressively damages brain cells and neurotransmitter systems, leading to a decline in memory, thinking, reasoning, and executive functions.

I believe that in order to vote, senior citizens (ages 60 +) that do suffer from neurodegenerative diseases should have to take a test assessing their cognitive function. This test would include basic decision making questions based on logical reasoning, or questions that require choosing between two sides based on logical reasoning, similar to voting.

Additionally, when looking at many world leaders such as the current and former presidents of the United States of America, we can see examples of senior citizens who clearly possess enough cognitive ability to make incredibly important decisions for their country. This further enhances the argument that senior citizens that do not suffer from neurodegenerative diseases possess the cognitive ability to vote.

Furthermore, many studies throughout the national library of medicine have shown that senior citizens possess much more wisdom and experience than younger generations. One study also found that older citizens are often bored and lack things to do, which means that they have plenty of time to research global issues and generate their own opinions on those problems, as well as seeing which global leader candidate has the potential to solve those problems best.

Many people argue against this and claim that senior citizens can be swayed or persuaded, however this argument can quickly fall apart when we realize that the whole premise of voting is to be swayed and being persuaded by a certain side more does not reflect your cognitive ability.

Comments (0)

You must be logged in with Student Hub access to post a comment. Sign up now!