California Democratic Party calls for lowering of voting age UNANIMOUSLY

[Constitution]

The Executive Board of the California Democratic Party voted unanimously vote call for the lowering of the voting age to 17. 17 isn't as good as 16 or 14 but it's a start. The Party also voted unanimously for the caucuses, committees, conventions, events and meetings to include full youth participation. Finally, a party stands up and calls for kids to have a say. This shows that the California Democratic Party is the party of the future and the party of inclusion.

Much of the thanks goes to Natasha, a fourteen-year-old girl, who wrote to the 300 Executive Board members and asked them to support a lower voting age. She also spoke before the resolutions committee about the 300+ servicemen who have died without one chance to vote for President. She is currently the President of the Orange County Chapter of the National Youth Rights Association and the Youth Chairman of the Patrick Henry Democratic Club. When she was 13, she was the youngest Democrat elected to be an officer of a California Democratic Party Caucus. Her club had placed 12 resolutions before the Executive board. Some were adopted and some were postponed until the October meeting.

She also got a chance to address the body of the Executive Board on behalf of the Iraqi Children’s War Memorial she has been working to get built. The board voted to back that project, also.

Another of the PHDC resolutions to pass unanimously was the call for the extradition of Posada to Venezuela. Good job, PHDC Democrats.

The progressives in the California Democratic Party are currently dealing with a right-wing take over of the state party's progressive caucus. At a small meeting the same weekend, the caucus voted to support bigotry, dictatorships and the overturning of elections. This isn't a joke. A group of progressives walked out before a handful of people, present at the meeting, voted to kick out two chunks of the membership (immigrants and youth) for discrimination purposes and to overturn part of the caucus’s bylaws which had been adopted by over 400 people at a meeting many multiples larger than the one where the bigotry was instituted. An officer of the caucus, who was part of organized labor and part of one of the discriminated-against groups, joined in the walkout. The vote that took place after she left would have eliminated her membership. None of the officers of the caucus has a seat on the state party's Executive Board but one of them is expected to get a seat on it at some later time. The general sense of the progressives is that the real progressive caucus within the California Democratic Party is the Party's Executive Board. Perhaps, the Executive Board could teach the state party's progressive caucus something about inclusion, democracy and about respecting their membership.

Good job, California Democratic Party Executive Board.

[LSparkle]

1. Dunno about this one

If we start letting 15-year-olds, 14-year-olds, etc. vote, we'll get stuck with even MORE Ah-node-style winners if you ask me. Call me an old fogey, but I think you need to reach a certain level of maturity (and since we can't test this on an individual basis, this needs to be quantified chronologically) before you're allowed to have your two cents counted when it comes to running the government. (Flame away ... )

[Constitution]

2. If the adults keep voting, we'll get more Bushes and Reagans.

That's the point that the Democratic Youth are making. They are very unhappy about the Presidents those of voting age have given them and feel they can't do any worse.

[Booster]

29. Oh, God. I can see our next governor will be Britney Spears.

[HockeyMom]

3. It was 21 when I came of age

Since my BDay is in November, I missed the cutoff and had to wait until I was older. I think 18 is just fine.

[LSparkle]

4. I agree -- I like 18

I don't think that lowering the voting age is going to help us elect better candidates, though. Kerry won the past election -- if we'd only fixed the VOTING MACHINERY we'd have him as president. That's where our efforts ought to go, not in just expanding the voting pool.

[Albert Einstein]

7. Why do you deserve the vote more than the servicmen who died for you?

The list of names that Natasha gave out to the members of the California Democratic Party is a list of those everyone opposed to lowring the voing age owes an apology. Why didn't they deserve to vote for President before they died? How can anyone who has the vote be so uncaring and inhuman?

[HockeyMom]

15. How many SEVENTEEN year olds have died? Or SIXTEEN year olds?

They cannot enlist at that age without their parents consent. In that case, their PARENTS are responsible and they CAN vote.

If the kid enlists on his own at 18, well then that is why EIGHTEEN YEAR OLD should be allowed to vote.

I have been through this since when my daughter wanted to enlist at age 17, both her father and I would have had to had given our consent.

You do realize that with this logic you are also opening the door for them to be tried as ADULTS and be given the death sentence younger than 18 years old. Even the Supremes ruled against that one.

[Padme Amidala]

20. 300 have died without one chance to vote for President because of age req.

The trouble is that one has to turn 18 on a Presidential election year before the election to vote in a Presidential election when he or she is 18. That's less than one out of every four individuals. Some don't get the opportunity until they are almost 22. So while you sit nice and safe here and write out your Internet comments, servicemen and women are dying without their first chance to vote for President. Please, have some compassion.

[HockeyMom]

24. My BDay is in November,

the end of November. I missed the cutoff when I turned 21, so I could not vote until I was 25. Yes, I am a woman, but I am sure there were a lot of men that that happened to also. And that was during Nam and they were being drafted and had NO CHOICE at all in the matter.

[Padme Amidala]

28. But you got to vote before you died for your country.

With the impending draft and upcoming war with Iran, more and more men and women will die without the vote. Don't be like Clarence
Thomas, saying I've got mine now, the heck with those I've left behind.

[ProudDad]

44. No One Under 18

should be allowed to join the military under any circumstances!

That solves that!

[TimeChaser]

65. I missed the 2004 election by TWO DAYS

:banghead:

[Padme Amidala]

25. I rounded down to the nearest hundred. It's more like 324 of official #s

They deserved a chance to vote for peace before they died.

It's so easy for people to speak in their ivory towers about the vote when they have it and don't need to work for it. The youth of American has done more to defeat George W. Bush than the adult Interneters. The whole thing reminds me of the pre-civil war whites lying around while the blacks did all the work and telling the blacks that they perhaps one day they would get the vote but they weren't worthy of it yet. Those who oppose the lowering of the voting age are getting the benefit of the work children do for the party but aren't willing to give kids the rights associated with the hard work they do. The term child slave labor comes to mind.

[rinsd]

61. Lowering the voting age doesn't effect that...

...because one could still attain the right to vote and die without ever casting a ballot for President.

So you may want step down from the moral high horse and demagougic language.

[ISUGRADIA]

67. 300 entered the armed services voluntarily knowing this

edit: for spelling

[meow2u3]

23. We also might have more high school dropouts

and more throwaway kids, since the parents will kick them out of their homes at earlier ages, asserting that they're adults.

[Toots]

36. I agree but the saving grace is most young people don't vote

Or follow current events or even know who the vice-president is let alone any cabinet member or issues they effect. Eighteen is the lowest I would go.

[Patrick Henry]

41. As Natasha pointed out, 16 year olds vote in significantly greater number

than 18-year-olds where the voting age has been lowered. 18 is the worse age to start voting as 18 year olds are in transition.

[rinsd]

63. Do you have a link? (nt)

[ISUGRADIA]

68. where is 16 the voting age, please?

[nosmokes]

5. while there are many exceptional teenagers

who no doubt deserve the right to vote by virtue of being better informed and more willing to be involved than those 18 yo+. the idea of allowing16 yos the vote just doesn't make any sense to me. explain the benefit and it's possible i could be persuaded, but i honestly don't see the point.

[Albert Einstein]

6. Time for the oppression to end. Lower the voting age now.

I wonder what is the difference between Bush's failure to speak to Cindy Sheehan and the lack of regard of those who oppose the lowring of the voting age towards the more than 300 servicemen who died without every geting to vote for President because of people like the opporessors opposed to lowering the voting age.

The California Democratic Party has its act together and we need to be proud that they are opposed to sending people to die without a say.

[msongs]

35. end of the oppression - lower the age to 3 years old, think of all

the oppressed 4 year olds like the ones in the CA legislature who betrayed us by naming a republican as SOS instead of naming a dem.

Msongs
www.msongs.com/political-shirts.htm

PS - hey if yer gonna use "opporessors" as yer justification how about get rid of all parental rights too, since parents are always oppressing kids.

[Patrick Henry]

42. Four year olds won't die in a war before they vote. 15 year olds may.

It's easy to make fun of those who want the vote. Personally, I think they should give a tolerance test to voters. Those, who oppose letting 15 year olds get the vote, are too stupid and prejudiced to operate a ballot. They are no different than the men who told women they belonged barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen when Susan B. Anthony called for the expansion of sufferage. To progressives, Natasha is the Susan B. Anthony of our time and those opposed to lowering the voting age are outdated and ridiculous.

[LittleClarkie]

47. I just don't want to wake up to Will Smith as president

running on a campaign promise to get "jiggy with it" is all.

There is a maturity issue here.

[Albert Einstein]

54. I'll take Will Smith over George Bush any day

What's the problem with Smith? Too black? Too intelligent? Too observant of issues that matter to real people?

If Bush is a better, more mature choice, then marry him. I don't want him in my White House.

[sandnsea]

57. They may die of starvation

Due to economic or health care policies. So I guess as soon as a human is able to watch a campaign ad, they should be able to vote.

Of course teen-agers think they're as competent as adults. They're invinsible, that's what gives them the confidence to leave home. It's also what causes them to not consider consequences, and glorify the warrior without realizing the horror of the battle and the suffering of death.

Adults take care of children. Lower the voting age, lower the age of accountability for all sorts of things, including prison sentences.

If you're worried about young people dieing in wars without being able to vote, raise the age of enlistment to 18.

[lynne]

8. Since parents are still legally responsible for those under 18 -

- will parents have controlling influence on how the child votes?

Count on it.

[paineinthearse]

9. I like the plan in the CA General Assembly that would

grant 3/4 vote to 16 year olds, 1/2 vote to 15 year olds and 1/4 vote to 14 year olds. Gets kids thinking and involved in the process.

[frictionlessO]

10. I had forgotten about that, yes I quite agree.

They deserve to have a say as well, and it is a rite of passage.

I know several of us couldn't wait to vote when I was in school.

[paineinthearse]

11. Do an advanced search

under my name, it's in the archives somewhere.....

[Padme Amidala]

27. That died in committee. We need it re-introduced.

It was a great bill. The trouble is that not enough of our legislatures had courage.

[Lone_Wolf]

12. The youth of today have a stake in the future...

it is only fair that they have a voice in how that (their) future turns out.

I also think it is a good way for them to learn civic responsibility. Thus, it will help them become responsible adults.

[suneel112]

13. I definitely agree with 17...or less

I wasn't able to vote last year in probably the most important election of my lifetime. I missed November 2 by EXACTLY 5 MONTHS, since I was born on March 2, 1987. If that law was in effect in Indiana, I, and several other pissed off high school seniors, would have voted for John Kerry. And I was as democratic, if not more, 9 months ago than I am right now. Even if it wasn't for the national elections, I could have still cast my vote against Mitch the Bitch and against our repub congressman.

[recidivist]

14. I'd say 35 would be about right.

n/t

[Orangepeel]

16. there should be one age of full citizenship

At that age, one should be able to vote, sign contracts, purchase and consume all legally available products and join the military.

[Liberty Belle]

17. Conservative takeover of CA Progressive caucus?

I am very concerned at this news. Can others here verify this?
What can California Democrats do to take back control of the newly formed Progressive caucus?

[Padme Amidala]

19. Unfortunate but true

The by-laws call for a new election at the meeting after the approval of the caucus. Unless, they throw out that provision, too, there should be a new election on October 1st, when the caucus meets in Manhattan Beach (near L.A.) What can be done is that the current power-hungry officers can be thrown out and replaced with progressives who support genuine progressive values. The problem is that the current officers won't release the membership lists. This means that anyone running against them won't have a way of contacting the membership to campaign for office. There is a 30-day membership requirement to vote and no one knows for sure how many members have been removed. The people in power in the caucus will do anything to stay there and the progressives will have to fight if they want to retake their own caucus. The progressives might be better off forming a new caucus with safeguards against a conservative takeover.

[The Flaming Red Head]

18. I started voting when I was 15

I lied about my age, faked my birth certificate and have voted in every presidential election, (except one) since then.

[Padme Amidala]

26. Now that's a person taking charge of their life.

Most of those over the age of 18 are too timid to take action to change the world.

[ISUGRADIA]

30. Yes and committing a felon too, great

[democracyindanger]

50. More than one

I counted at least a couple in there.

[Albert Einstein]

52. It is an unjust law. I wonder where Martin Luther King would stand?

It is a law that oppresses and disenfranchises our greatest minds. Some of these are sent to their deaths by those with the vote before they get a chance to vote for the country's leaders. Though many of us lack this person's courage, it is important to support his courage in refusing to honor an unjust and oppressive law.

[rinsd]

64. He would probably be aghast at your intellectual dishonesty...

..because this fact would not change with lowering the voting age:

"Some of these are sent to their deaths by those with the vote before they get a chance to vote for the country's leaders"

Edited for atrocious spelling.

[Pepperbelly]

21. I don't know how I feel about this although my first reaction is that ...

it won't make a popcorn fart in windstorm's difference in any election. I can remember when it was lowered to 18. All of us had great hopes. Like so many, they were dashed against the rocks of reality.

I suspect this would just be more voters who wouldn't turn out or who would get hoodwinked by the charlatans among us, just like so many of their elders.

[ellenfl]

22. i can remember having political discussions when i was in high

school . . . but i also remember having civics classes in school. do they still teach civics? i think many young people follow politics and those who don't probably won't vote anyway. all i ask of anyone is to be informed before they vote.

on the 'no' side, in another forum, i had many discussions with a young lady that merely spouted her parents politics. every time i asked her to explain her reasons for a particular stance, she couldn't . . . without asking her parents first. (her parents are texas fundies.)

unfortunately, many adults aren't informed before they vote. so, what can we do?

(did i manage to cover every side of that argument?)

ellen fl

[Jamison]

31. I don't see how it would help.

We can hardly get people ages 18-25 to vote anyway.

[don954]

32. Well, since we now hold 17 y.o. teens responsable as adults

in all matters of criminal law, just about, I say its high time we lower the voting age to 17. As they say, No Taxation without representation!

[sandnsea]

33. bigotry, dictatorships and overturning elections

Could you skip the hyperbole and report a fact or two. Other than youth voting rights, I have no idea what you're talking about.

[Patrick Henry]

40. They kicked out the new immigrants also.

The problem is that the Executive Board told the progressive caucus to be more progressive and they declined the offer. If the progressive caucus is the most conservative group in the Democratic Party and more conservative than every last member of the Executive Board, isn't the name little more than a joke? When the caucus gets a seat on the Executive Board, the Executive Board will be one seat less progressive.

[ISUGRADIA]

66. I guess you are meaning non-US citizens

and hopefully not undocumented aliens. I'm open to the participation of green card holding resident involvement since 1) they can be drafted and 2) they can contribute $ to campaigns.

[NaturalHigh]

34. Stick with eighteen.

[Cynot]

37. I agree.

As soon as 18 year olds start voting in appreciable numbers, then we can consider lowering the voting age, but as it stands now, younger people, age 18 to 21, have then lowest percentage of voting among any age group.

[fujiyama]

38. Eighteen is fine

I don't understand the point of changing this.

I mean at what age do you draw the line? Perhaps you can make it 16 considering that's the age you can drive a car but for most legal purposes a person is considered an adult at 18.

Of course I also don't believe people under the age of 18 should be recruited for military service either. I also think if you can serve the nation in the military at 18, you should be able to purchase alcohol.

[Name removed]

39. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[rinsd]

59. Your hysterical responses....

...are not exactly making the case.

Based on your scenario one could still turn 17 or 16 and get the right to vote and still die without being able to vote for the people sending them to die. It would still be based on their birthdate.

Plus are the 300 based on people who were not of age when Bush first took office? What is it based on?

So what is the point?

Is the age limit arbitrary? Yes.

Does having the legal age of adulthood remain at 18 have benefits?

Yes.

If you think predatory credit card vendors are a problem now in college, just wait until those under 18 become responsible for the contracts they sign.

[LittleClarkie]

60. Rather like:

If you disagree with President Bush, then you must hate America.

Makes my teeth itch, it does.

[SoCalifer]

43. Its always been my belief

that if your country believes that at a certain age, you're responsible enough to go off and fight and die for your country. Then why would it on the other hand believe that at that same age, you're not responsible enough to vote, gamble, drink, have legal consensual sex, buy a gun..........."buy a gun"......now there's something ironic. You're old enough to be given the world's most powerful and destructive weapons (machine guns, bombs, tanks, etc), but not old enough to go to a sporting good's store and purchase a deer rifle, or hand gun for self protection.

Anyway, I find it absurd that you can be in uniform and be sent off to fight a war, but not vote on who you want as your leaders in government.



.

[caligirl]

45. Anyone see a recent study showing the dems having

fewer voters than repugs? dropping the voting age could help this.

[Albert Einstein]

48. The Party that lowers the voting age will rule this state

Children cut classes here to protest the war and to protest Arnold. The only chance Arnold has in 2006, aside from rigging, is to make a play for the younger voters by taking the lead in giving them the vote. That would guarantee him re-election. If the Democratic legislature moves fast, he won't have a chance to do that and the Democrats will get the glory and votes for being the party of inclusion.

[rinsd]

58. That's not a good rationale for changing the law...(nt)

[Lexingtonian]

46. What California really should do to improve voting law/elections

is first repeal their parolee disenfranchisment statute. That's 150,000 more adults elegible to vote in the state and means that a whole bunch of elections bureaucracy (and opportunity for corruption) can be given up.

[Albert Einstein]

49. That's also important.. The more voters, the more democracy

Former felons can vote here but allowing parolees and even prisoners to vote would help undo the injustices that have placed too many innocent people in prison. The trouble is that society is more prejudiced against parolees than against the youth. There is a need for education.

[Nikki Stone 1]

51. Does this mean the DRAFT age will also go down to 17?

The big argument for reducing the voting age back in the 70s was the draft--you could die in a war at 18, 19, and 20, but you couldn't vote against it in an election.

I wonder.

[Albert Einstein]

53. It means that the voting age should be four years lower than the draft

Otherwise, those who die for YOU (I repeat, for YOU)may never get a chance to vote against the leader who sends them to their deaths (FOR YOU).

[Joanne98]

55. I love it! Age 17 gives the teachers union a chance to recuit students!

[SeanQuinn]

56. Ooh, I can see some anti-youth responses in here.

As a twelve year old activist, I'm for lowering to the voting age to 17, 16, 14, whatever. I say that 16 sounds about right for a unanimous adult age, but I don't want to see it at 12.

Just because we're young doesn't mean we can't be active.

[RetroLounge]

62. Sure lets do this

then they can draft them at 17 too.

But they still can't drink...

RL

[Moderator]

69. Locking

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