Sen. John Vasconcellos has never needed the encouragement of
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger or anyone else to blow up the boxes of
public policy.
Sen. John Vasconcellos has never needed the encouragement of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger or anyone else to blow up the boxes of public policy.
Consider the latest proposal from the Silicon Valley Democrat: Amend the state Constitution to permit young people to vote, starting at age 14. Sort of.
The votes of those 14 and 15 would count as one-quarter of an adult vote; for 16- and 17-year-olds, one-half.
It’s only fair, says Vasconcellos. Teens pay taxes when they buy stuff; some have taxable income. Does “taxation without representation” ring a bell? Government decisions about schools, crime prevention and public health affect teens, just as they affect adults. But those under 18 don’t get to influence those decisions. Besides, voting early will plant the seed of lifetime voting and civic participation.
True as all this may be, it doesn’t make the case. Young people from 14 to 18 are certainly moving toward adulthood, gradually gaining the ability to make more and more decisions for themselves. There’s no way to avoid being arbitrary about when people who are becoming adults are considered to have reached adulthood, at least in the eyes of the law. Plenty of young people are responsible; plenty of adults are irresponsible.
Eighteen has served as a reasonable threshold of adulthood. Those under 18 are not treated as independent adults on a whole range of issues for which they need their parents’ permission.
Change does not seem urgent. Is there a groundswell of support for younger voters? And fractional votes are a gimmick.
So let’s just leave this particular box un-blown-up for now.
