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May 10, 2004"Goin’ down to cow town, the cow’s a friend to me…"
According to VacavilleNews.com, SB 1606 (a bill that would lower California’s legal voting age to 14) passed the state Senate Committee on Elections and Reappointment last Wednesday.
Condescendingly dubbed "Training Wheels for Citizenship" by Sen. John Vasconcellos (D-San Jose), the proposed constitutional amendment "would give 14- and 15-year-olds 1/4 of a full vote, while 16- and 17-year-olds would get 1/2 a full vote."
Says Vasconcellos: "It is so sad that so many of our young people today are deserting our voting ranks in ever larger numbers. They are simply not feeling engaged enough to attract them into the regular practice and habit of voting, to participate in their own self-determination. And self-determination is the glory and thrill of our American way of government, and of life itself."
The glory and thrill of our American way of government, and of life itself?
Sounds like "Mr. Smith Goes to San Jose". I don’t think I could say that with a straight face, much less since the Supreme Court arbitrarily installed Dubya in 2000.
This was brought about thanks to the abysmally low voter turnout for the 18-to-25 demographic. I’m not sure what the bill is supposed to accomplish, aside from giving Britney Spears a viable shot in California politics.
Is it any wonder that young voters aren’t feeling engaged? The answer isn’t to dole out fragments of votes to teenagers in the hopes that they’ll get in the habit of voting. That’s like trying to fix a high mortality rate at a hospital by bringing in more patients. That might skew the numbers in a more favorable light, sure, but wouldn’t the real solution be to look at the doctors, the administrators, and the hospital itself to try and figure out what’s gone fundamentally wrong with how it does business?
Instead of installing "Training Wheels for Citizenship," Vasconcellos and his supporters should be working to rectify the widespread governmental cronyism and self-interest that convince people to stop pedaling in the first place.
Posted by patrick at May 10, 2004 10:19 PM
CommentsPersonally, I think this is a real bad idea for several reasons, not the least of which being a certain business about slaves only counting as 3/5ths of a person for purposes of determining population for doling out representatives. We already treat our teens like second class citizens now; let's make it third or fourth class. Not to mention the utter mess of trying to tally fractional votes.
And, second, I don't think kids under 18 have, in general, the political awareness or knowledge to know how the hell to figure out for whom to vote in order to express their personal beliefs. "Becky, are you voting for Kerry?" "Oooh, no, he's like just a creepy looking old man. Gag me..."
Yeah, that's how we want the next leader of the free world chosen. If you want to give them this experience, then let them actually "vote" in school and tally the votes -- but not in any legally binding way. Then, assign "electoral" votes to each high school in the district based on enrollment and give the kids a first-hand education in how that antiquated system really screws things up.
But oddly enough, I ran across this article online today which puts an entirely different perspective on why the 18-25 year-old demographic has such a hard time getting to the polls -- local officials aren't letting them. It's an interesting read.
Posted by: Jon Bastian at May 11, 2004 08:49 PM
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