D#6, HW#4 - Annotated Bibliography 6

Bailey, Eric. (2004, March 9). The State; Giving New Meaning to 'Youth Vote'; A state senator says he wants to change the California Constitution to allow teens as young as 14 to cast ballots. The proposal is met with ridicule.:[HOME EDITION]. The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved on July 16, 2007 from ProQuest Database.

A California state senator proposed that teenagers be allowed to vote at age 14. Sort of. Teens in California would be able to cast one-quarter of a vote at age 14 and half a vote at age 16 under a constitutional amendment proposed by Sen. John Vasconcellos (D-Santa Clara). However, this proposal was met with strong opposition by Sen. Ross Johnson (R- Irvine) & Bob Stern, president of the Center for Governmental Studies in Los Angeles, both stating in various terms that this proposal was outrageous. This article will show another perspective on this topic. This article also refers to Germany & Austria having already lowered their voting age to allow teens to vote.

Dionne Jr., E. (2002, August 2). What Young Voters Want: [FINAL Edition]. The Washington Post. Retrieved July 15, 2007 from ProQuest database.

“We celebrate what we value. We claim to value citizenship and political participation. But we do virtually nothing to celebrate the entry of young Americans into political maturity. Is it any wonder that so few young people vote?” (Dionne) This commentary article suggests one probable way to engage youth to participate more actively with voting by bringing back political rally parties (election night dances or concerts.) This would be a great way to include 16-17 year olds should they be able to vote. This would help answer “How do we know teens will actually vote?”

Lori Aratani, L. (2006, November 4). Teens Too Young to Vote Blaze a Campaign Trail; Ervin Applauds Students' Political Acumen: [FINAL Edition]. The Washington Post. Retrieved July 15, 2007 from ProQuest database.

This newspaper article depicts a Montgomery County Councilwoman, Valerie Ervin, who enlisted the help of two teenagers, Adam Yalowitz and Avi Edelman, to run her campaign. “"The adults thought I was crazy," said Ervin, who recruited the pair, seniors at Montgomery Blair High School, in June.”They said, 'You cannot risk your reputation by having two 17-year-olds run your campaign.' But in reality, they knew what they were doing." Although Ervin's longtime friend Susan Phillips, 51, was the campaign's official manager, “Yalowitz and Edelman were instrumental in developing strategy and mobilizing volunteers,” Ervin said. Something worked. Ervin won the Democratic primary in September with 68.1 percent of the vote. This article will be very beneficial to the research being conducted on lowering the voting age as it proves some teens do know what they’re doing.