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I periodically field this question from people about WSFS business: "Is there a minimum age limit for voting on WSFS business?"
The answer is No, there is no minimum age for members to be allowed to exercise WSFS voting rights.
Only natural human beings (that's a term of law, not a joke) with a class of membership that includes WSFS voting rights may nominate and vote on the Hugo Awards, participate in Site Selection, and participate in the WSFS Business Meeting. (Only members with an attending supplement may debate and vote on matters before the Business Meeting, but any WSFS member, whether or not they have an attending supplement, may propose business to be considered by the Meeting.)
WSFS conventions (Worldcon and NASFiC) do often sell classes of membership that do not include a WSFS membership, and child memberships are one of the type of such memberships. Those child members whose memberships do not include WSFS rights may not participate in WSFS business. However, a person of any age can buy a WSFS membership and exercise it.
Now I'm not old enough to have been around "back in the day," but I'm aware from reading fannish history that the membership of Worldcon tended to be a lot younger in its earlier days. I understand that there were organizing committees that had some difficulty getting someone who was of sufficient age to be able to sign a binding contract in the jurisdiction in which they were holding their convention. I think the idea that those mostly teenage fans would have wanted to make sure that only "adults" (however you define that) could vote is laughable. There's never been an age limit of which I'm aware.
I may be wrong, but what I think I'm seeing by people asking such questions is what I see in the broader culture. The generation who once chanted, "Never trust anyone over thirty!" is now saying, "Never let anyone vote who is younger than 55!"
The answer is No, there is no minimum age for members to be allowed to exercise WSFS voting rights.
Only natural human beings (that's a term of law, not a joke) with a class of membership that includes WSFS voting rights may nominate and vote on the Hugo Awards, participate in Site Selection, and participate in the WSFS Business Meeting. (Only members with an attending supplement may debate and vote on matters before the Business Meeting, but any WSFS member, whether or not they have an attending supplement, may propose business to be considered by the Meeting.)
WSFS conventions (Worldcon and NASFiC) do often sell classes of membership that do not include a WSFS membership, and child memberships are one of the type of such memberships. Those child members whose memberships do not include WSFS rights may not participate in WSFS business. However, a person of any age can buy a WSFS membership and exercise it.
Now I'm not old enough to have been around "back in the day," but I'm aware from reading fannish history that the membership of Worldcon tended to be a lot younger in its earlier days. I understand that there were organizing committees that had some difficulty getting someone who was of sufficient age to be able to sign a binding contract in the jurisdiction in which they were holding their convention. I think the idea that those mostly teenage fans would have wanted to make sure that only "adults" (however you define that) could vote is laughable. There's never been an age limit of which I'm aware.
I may be wrong, but what I think I'm seeing by people asking such questions is what I see in the broader culture. The generation who once chanted, "Never trust anyone over thirty!" is now saying, "Never let anyone vote who is younger than 55!"
