A pure democracy gives equal voting rights for voters in the society regardless of their demographics (age, gender, or ethnicity).
However, in many referendums, younger voters have a different say from older people, and the there may be a true differential impact of the referendum result on people from different generations (e.g., Brexit).
For example, a result of 'Yes' in a referendum could be overall beneficial for older, more conservative people while being in the same time harmful for more ambitious younger generations who have longer life expectancy.
In a democratic political system, can votes be weighted by life expectancy based on voters' age? Or would this be considered age discrimination?
This would be considered discrimination and could lead to political corruption. If not all votes are weighted the same then it could be said that some votes are worth more than others or that some votes don't matter at all. This also opens up the issue of where these age lines will be drawn and who should draw them. Weighing votes based on age looks good on paper but in practical application it would be a constitutional mess.
