California Legislator Wants 14-Year-Olds to Vote

(Sacramento, California) State Senator John Vasconcellos, D-Santa Clara, has proposed an amendment to the state constitution which would allow 14 to 17-year-olds to vote in state and local elections. The kids 14 and 15 would count as one-fourth of an adult vote, 16 and 17-year-olds would be one-half.

This begs a question. Why stop there? Couldn't we lower the age even more? Let's start at five. Among the 5 and 9-year-olds, the votes would count as one-tenth of an adult and, from 10 to 13, the votes would count for one-fifth. If the plan is to remove maturity and intellect as criteria for determining voting age, than there's no reason to exclude the youngest citizens.

The proposed amendment would probably also produce a Pandora's box of unintended consequences. An argument could be made that if someone is old enough to have a say in determining the government, then that person should be old enough to sign a legal contract, get married, and have consensual intimate relations with a member of the same or opposite sex. It also seems possible that in some jurisdictions, with the right demographics, the kids could be the majority. In that case, I foresee homework being outlawed.

Hat tip: Absinthe & Cookies