D#3, HW# 7 - Annotated Bibliography 3

Sweet, A., Tatz, P., & Puz, J. (2005, July 28). From playgrounds to voting booths: Kids want to vote. New York Amsterdam News. Vol. 96, Issue 31. Retrieved July 9, 2007 from Academic Search Premier Database.

“People talk about how the youth don't care and aren't involved, especially in the last election, and I think part of the problem is, we're just ignored. When you're 16, you have a lot of adult "rights," like paying taxes, driving, enlisting in the Army, serving adult prison terms, but you're not treated as an adult” (Sweet).

“Democracy is the founding principle of America. If some of us are given a vote, and others aren't, how is that good democracy? Expanding the vote will make democracy even better and richer. How can expanding the vote be bad?” (Tatz).

“…it's a double standard when we are told, "No, you're kids, you're not responsible enough to vote, but you're responsible enough to face the same penalties adults do"” (Puz).

Quotes from three teenagers that show teens are aware of the youth suffrage and want to be able to cast their ballot. These comments also show that teens can comprehend at a young age what it means to improve democracy and to be an American.

Stafford, Katy. (2006, November 5). Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, NC ). Students learning how, why to vote: About 20,000 in Mecklenburg to cast ballots in mock election. Retrieved July 9, 2007 from Access My Library database.

Students have the opportunity to learn about voting through a wonderful organization called Kids Voting USA. This organization’s primary goal is to inform the youth about their right to vote and how to exercise that right. Encouraging and teaching the skill to vote at a young age can become a habit. The habit of voting can only improve America’s democracy.

"The ultimate goal is to get informed about the election process. They learn the skills in a textbook and then get to experience it in real life." said Amy Farrell, executive director of the Mecklenburg program, part of Kids Voting USA, a nonprofit organization based in Tempe, Ariz.

Ralph Nader Favors Youth Voting: Lowering the Voting Age to 16. Nader for President 2004 General Election Committee. (2004). Retrieved July 9, 2007 from .

Ralph Nader takes a fresh approach to youth suffrage by looking at the long term possible results. He believes that by teaching teens to vote early and allowing a habit to form would increase the participation at the polls. Mr. Nader also stated he “…favors increased instruction in school about civics, government and the importance of voting.” Youths need to know how, why and what’s required to vote.

The requirements for “who could vote” have been changing for over 100 years. Brad Vogel stated, "At the founding of our nation, only rich, white, land-owning men over the age of twenty-one could vote. Later, it was any white man over twenty-one. Following the Civil War, the Fifteenth Amendment gave the vote to African American men. Next, in 1920, women's suffrage finally paid off with the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment. Finally, in 1970 the voting age was lowered to 18 due to the counter-cultural movements of the 1960's. Over hundreds of years, the vote has spread from the clutches of an elite few to an ever-greater percentage of the population. Youth are simply the next item on the timeline of Democracy's growth."