Musings: Apply age limits to seniors, too

A young woman after voting at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles on Nov. 5, 2024. Credit: AFP via Getty Images/Robyn Beck
I had to register for the draft at age 18 but could not vote until I was 21. If I had wanted to serve in the House of Representatives, I’d have had to wait until I was 25. For the Senate, it is 30, and president, 35.
If minimum-age requirements are OK, why not maximum-age requirements?
Age does not guarantee capability. Some 16-year-olds are far more aware than most 23-year-olds, and 90-year-olds can be more aware than many 65-year-olds.
An automatic ineligibility age of 75 or 80 for elective or appointed office would be a reasonable compromise. Yes, it would be unfair but so are the minimum-age requirements. Is it insensitive, yes. Life, however, was never intended to be lined with feathers.
— Larry Wiltse, Glen Head
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