Vox Pop

The My Zone team took a trip to Ongwediva and asked a few debaters to make arguments for and against the motion that the voting age should be reduced to 16.



Sofia Kalla

At 16, you aren't allowed to drink alcohol because your brain is not developed enough to handle it. If a person's brain is not developed enough to handle the effects of alcohol, they should not be allowed to make a decision that will impact the futures of everyone in the country.



Sylvia Amakali

Changing the voting age to 16 could cause many young people, who are very easily influenced by the public, to vote for who others want them to vote for instead of in their own best interests. At 16, you can't get a driver's licence - maybe you shouldn't be allowed to vote either.



Johny Martin

Reducing the age to 16 will increase youth voter turnout - which is lower than the average voter turnout. Historically, it was set to 18 as a guideline for maturity, but 16- and 17-year-olds are politically engaged, yet are arbitrarily excluded. Lowering the voting age will fix this problem.



Naomi Shakungu

The constitution of Namibia does not allow a 16-year-old to vote. Our founding fathers sat down and thought about it and decided that a 16-year-old is not ready to vote yet. Do we really think they did that for fun? No, they had good reason to do so.



Ndinelao Nambuli

Times have changed and we need to change with the times. Reducing the age of voting will promote a life-long habit of voting and participating in democracy, which will strengthen Namibia's democracy and make sure that more people are politically informed.



Lydia Erago

The youth is underrepresented in elections - not because of low youth voter turnout, but because the 16- and 17-year-olds are excluded from participating in the election. It is unfair that they do not get to vote for their best interests, despite knowing what changes they need.