Thursday, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to reject an amendment to HR1 that would have lowered the voting age to 16, despite 126 House members who voted in favor of the resolution.
As reported by Bloomberg’s Greg Giroux, the amendment that was introduced by Rep. Ayana Pressley (D-Mass.), and was shot down by a count of 126-305.
Lowering the voting age is generally a Democratic Party trope, given that uneducated, idealistic children who have never had to pay massive amounts of taxes imposed by Democrats generally lean left. But one Republican surprisingly voted in favor of the amendment.
Rep. Michael Burgess (R-Texas) voted with 125 Democrats to lower the voting age, first noted by columnist Phil Kerpen. Burgess, usually a reliable conservative who is strong on border security and outspokenly anti-amnesty, has not provided an explanation for his vote.
HR1, which is scheduled to be voted upon Friday in the House, is a controversial bill on the whole. The bill would remove the power of states to create voting districts, instead giving that power to “independent” commissions. It would also have wide ranging ramifications in the arena of campaign finance and impose a code of ethics for Supreme Court Justices.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) mocked the bill as a “parade of horrible.”
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