my25rs

iTrader: (2)

i dont know if it was passed/amended. it was a bill on voting age being as young as 14 years old. 14-15 count as 1/4 of a vote. 16-17 count as 1/2 a vote. Anyone know if it was amended?
Thanks Ian

nachomc

iTrader: (7)

I sure hope it wasn't passed. That's the dumbest ****ing thing ever. HEY, lets take a bunch of uninformed ****s and let them vote for our government officials!!!!

If it passes/passed, future campaign issues could be addressing the high cost of Mead Trapper Keepers, FUBU clothing and other assorted humorous things about high schoolers.

Max Xevious

iTrader: (8)

too many people over the age of 18 should not vote too

nachomc

iTrader: (7)

this is very true. the reason I've never voted is because I've never felt I was informed enough to cast a proper vote. I feel more informed this year, but still not enough. It's hard to find information that isn't biased in one way or another towards a particular candidate. There was an aol page up at one point that let you put respond to a survey of questions and based on your responses it matched you to the candidate which most closely shared your views. I really liked that site - it was very helpful.

zumnwrx

iTrader: (6)

im voting for bush... im sick of all this democratic bashing, and im a democrat!

flame all you want i dont care!
edgar,

Necromancer

I totally disagree. Kids tend to be much better informed about issues since they go to school. And they have lots of time to think about their own futures, rather than whatever shortsighted self-interested special interest is in vogue at the moment.

Maybe giving kids voting rights would help us get the government focused on educating people instead of blowing things up. (flame suit on)

Back on topic, car laws would be better with more younger voters, and less "keep off my grass" type old folks that would like to see everybody driving 20 miles an hour so they can feel safe even when they're too old to drive.

Max Xevious

iTrader: (8)

high school kids influenced by bias teachers is not what I would call being informed

I dunno about you, but I never had any current events classes when I was in highschool.

Nick Koan

iTrader: (3)

The bill has passed out of the state senate committee, and will soon be voted on in the legislature.

Aln

I think all of you that can vote should vote. about only 25% of the population votes. And thats about 50% of registered voters voting. So your vote will count and it will make a difference.

but then again it is also democratic not to vote, because you choose not to.

And for teachers being biased, its true some express their opinions openly, but i dont think they are allowed to... at least thats what i think the rule is. But now its mandatory to take government class in highschool, so you can learn whats up and choose your side.

soggynuts

dont get me started

nachomc

iTrader: (7)

They can and do express their views. They have to stay away from religious topics though. And my govt. class never taught us what it meant to be a democratic, liberal or republican. They taught us about legislative history and great court cases like rowe vs. wade and stuff. That class did not assist me in knowing which party my views more closely resemble, nor did it give me any insight in to picking a candidate for which to vote.

If this passes, my hope is that the type of younger person that is irresponsible and/or uninformed to cast a proper vote actually won't vote because they'll be too apathetic and only those with the maturity level to become properly informed will vote. I just don't think the bulk of people that this bill will assist are any position to see both sides of an argument or to make informed decisions about the future of the country. They haven't even experienced "the real world" (and that's not to say most 18 year olds have, but to vote at 18 is the status quo), they haven't paid taxes outside of sales tax and maybe income tax on their min. wage job. They see "minimum wage increase" and might think "hey, I can buy more CDs!!" but don't understand the overall effects on the economy. They likely haven't even taken a basic econ course, and the lame highschool econ course they required at my school (which may be at all schools now) didn't teach me a damn thing about S&D and how it affects people globally and/or locally. At least at 18, a person could fight for their country, could get a credit card without an adult or legal gaurdians signature and could experience some of things life outside of highschool has to offer.

Allowing people under 18 to vote is a bad idea. I can't believe it may become law

danhtao

my high school gov teacher was freakin awesome....
he was a berkeley alumi who was a republican
some of my science teachers were straight up tree huggers, and they knew better
seriously though, bad bad bad idea.....
i swear this is true, one of my co-workers voted for Clinton as well as Gore using the reasoning of, and i qoute, "i don't know what they stand for, so I just voted for the better looking candidate"
its bad enough that half the people who can vote don't,
and even worse is of those who do vote won't do enough research to realize what they are voting for in the first place
my high school government only had a turn out of maybe 10% of the freakin high school,
and that's the 14-18 age group,
do they think that by opening the doors to the younger ages would be enough to make a difference?

edited for slight grammar

Wingless Wonder

iTrader: (7)

We are lucky, though. Just think if the bill had contained language that supported voting rights for 5-year olds. Yeah, they might only be entitled to 1/20 of a vote but there are millions of the little critters! Voting machines would have to be modified for very, very short people. And made with features such as colorful lights and big buttons and spinning thingies.

--
0==WW==0
"…axles of evil…" - george w. bush

Max Xevious

iTrader: (8)

I think we would have florida all over again with 5 year olds

dub2w

i still cant figure out if this is a joke