raisinbran20 asked
Three decades after the 26th Amendment changed the voting age from 21 to 18, another proposal could lower it four more years in California. In Sacramento yesterday, Sen. John Vasconcellos, D-San Jose, introduced a state constitutional amendment that would make California the first state to lower its voting age to 14. Under his proposed system, 14- and 15-year-olds would be given one-quarter of a vote and 16- and 17-year olds one-half of a vote. Also known as “Training Wheels for Citizenship,” the proposal aims to wean young people into the democratic process and encourage early voting habits. At a press conference yesterday morning, Vasconcellos, 71, said in an age of cell phones, the Internet and television, today’s youth are better informed than those of the past and should have the ability to vote. He added that allowing high school students to vote would transform “dry, boring, un-engaging” U.S. government and civics classes they are required to take into “real live experiential learning.” The proposed amendment needs a two-thirds majority to pass through the state Legislature. If passes, it will appear on a statewide ballot in November. Supporters believe youth should be able to vote on issues that directly affect their lives. “Young people (currently) find themselves underrepresented,” said Alex Koroknay-Palicz, president of the National Youth Rights Association. “That’s the nature of the system—politicians represent those who vote for them.” Seventeen-year-old Berkeley High School student Robert Reynolds, who protested during last week’s primary election to lower the voting age to 16, said education was especially at risk in times of fiscal crisis. “Education is the first thing to be cut. If young teenagers had the right to vote, politicians would have to take their interests more seriously,” Reynolds said. He added that he felt more politically informed than many adults. He is the founder and president of his high scho
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