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PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) - Rhode Island's governor has vetoed a bill that would let 16- and 17-year-olds register to vote. It's the fourth time that Gov. Don Carcieri has vetoed the legislation. The bill would have let teens "pre-register" to vote, with their registration automatically becoming active when they reach 18. Rep. Edwin Pacheco, D-Burrillville, who introduced the House measure, has said enrolling teens would help get more of them involved in the political process. Carcieri says the current law, which allows teens to register if they are eligible to vote by the next election, has served the state well....

Low voter turnout is a serious problem in Canada. Nearly 4 in 10 voters stayed away from the polls during the hotly contested election in 2004 so although the Liberals received 36% of ballots, it represents less than 23% of eligible voters. Something is very wrong. In an effort to reverse declining rates of voter participation, four Members of Parliament have banded together in support of Bill C-261, a private member’s bill seeking to lower the age of voting to just 16. Liberal MP Mark Holland introduced the bill and is working together with Belinda Stronach (Conservative), Stéphane Bergeron (BQ)...

Since Left Coast Democrats, led by State Senator John Vasconcellos, have called for a proposed amendment to the California State Constiution that would lower the voting age to 14, I thought I'd go them one better by proposing 14 year olds vote in Democratic primaries starting in 2006. Oh, sure, the March 2004 Democratic proposal said that 16 year olds would count only as half a vote and 14 year olds only as one quarter of a vote. However this language smacks of the shameful and demeaning Three-Fifths of a Person representation clause in the original US Constitution that applied...

American teens have spoken, and they want George W. Bush for president. Nearly 1.4 million teens voted in the nation's largest mock election, and the Republican incumbent wound up with 393 electoral votes and 55 percent of the total votes cast.

Teens who predicted President Bush's narrow victory in 2000 have reelected him, according to a Clearasil nationwide mock poll conducted by Channel One News. Bush received 55 percent of the vote to Senator John Kerry's 40 percent, with 5 percent going to third-party candidates. The acne medication, advertised by Interpublic Group's McCann Erickson, New York, with planning and buying performed by Medicom, sponsored the poll. The in-school TV network, which broadcasts from Los Angeles to more than 8 million students nationwide, had 1.4 million teens return online ballots Monday and Tuesday. The ballots were numbered to prevent stuffing. "Clearasil has...

Bush Secures 393 Electoral Votes and Wins All Swing States But One, With Kerry Receiving 145 Electoral VotesSponsored by Clearasil, Channel One's OneVote 2004 Initiative One of the Largest Online Teen Votes Ever With Nearly 1,400,000 Ballots LOS ANGELES, Oct. 21 /PRNewswire/ -- President George W. Bush was elected to a second term as President with 55% of the votes in Channel One News' OneVote 2004, one of the largest online teen elections in US history. Senator John Kerry received 40%, with 5% voting for a third party candidate. Although pundits believe that there are a number of "swing" states...

Rochester, NY – October 4, 2004 – A new survey by Harris Interactive® shows U.S. kids and teenagers aged 8-18 currently prefer President George W. Bush over Senator John Kerry by 48 to 38 percent. This 10-point margin represents a large shift from August, when the poll had shown a 46 to 40 percent preference for Kerry. The poll shows that both boys and girls prefer Bush to Kerry by similar margins, but that older teenagers (aged 16-18) prefer Kerry to Bush by 43 to 39 percent. Bush’s job approval rating among kids and teens is currently 54 percent positive...

[snip]Some people strolling the Common passionately disagreed. ''You've got to be kidding me," said David Wheeler, 48, of Tampa. ''I've got three boys -- 16, 14, and 9 years old. They're totally unaware." ''Our 16-year-old thinks he knows everything," agreed his wife, Lori, 46. ''But I wouldn't leave him alone, let alone let him vote for the president of the United States." But Schneider-Joseph wouldn't budge. Lack of competency is no argument for restricting voting, he said, arguing that many adults wouldn't clear that hurdle. He would support a short qualifying test, but adults should take it too, the 20-year-old...

"... Children and parents enter into an agreement pledging that the parents will vote according to their children's preference as long as the children have done their homework. ... Youngsters are more true to their convictions than grown-ups. They're also more likely to care about the future and issues affecting the future, including the environment and Social Security."

-snip- Is this an idea whose time has not yet come? Probably. The fractious fractions bill is unlikely to get through California's Committee on Constitutional Amendments that meets May 26. If we want to design "training wheels," it might be better to lower the voting age first in local elections, especially school boards, where high-schoolers truly face taxation -- or rather tax cuts -- without representation. -snip-

A bill designed to get youth more involved in the elections process passed the state Senate Committee on Elections and Reappointment on Wednesday. SB 1606 by Sen. John Vasconcellos, D-San Jose, would lower the state's legal voting age to 14. The catch is that it would take four 14 or 15 year olds to make up a whole vote. The proposed constitutional amendment would give 14- and 15-year-olds 1/4 of a full vote, while 16- and 17-year-olds would get 1/2 a full vote. Vasconcellos dubbed his bill 'Training Wheels for Citizenship,' and says it is designed to encourage early and...

A state senator’s proposal to lower California’s voting age to 14 passed its first legislative test Wednesday on a party-line vote of the Senate Elections and Reapportionment Committee. With Democrats in support and Republicans in opposition, the controversial bill by Sen. John Vasconcellos, D-San Jose, cleared the committee on a 3-2 vote.

BERKELEY, Calif. -- On Super Tuesday last month, Robert Reynolds headed for the polls at the local senior center, where he politely requested a ballot from a graying, middle-aged woman. She glanced at his youthful face, and then brusquely turned him away. Undaunted, Reynolds, a 17-year-old high school junior, then exercised a democratic right -- staging a demonstration with a handful of schoolmates. They chanted slogans and toted signs; one read, "No Taxation Without Representation." The group of six then dutifully headed off to class. A week later, Reynolds was at the state Capitol lending support for legislation seeking to...

SIXTEEN-year-olds are set to get the vote in time for next year’s widely-anticipated general election under Labour plans to increase the number of people who go to the polls. Labour policy-makers have decided to rush through legislation reducing the voting age by two years if the Electoral Commission decides - as expected - that the move would boost the turnout in future elections. Extending the franchise is seen as an essential step to combating the electorate’s increasing apathy, which saw the turnout at the last UK-wide poll drop to just 59%. But the move would give the UK the lowest...

Friday, March 12, 2004 Why stop with 14-year-olds? If ignorant illiterates can vote (and elect Sen. Vasconcellos), toddlers deserve say By RICHARD KIRK Free-lance writer who lives in Oceanside State Sen. John Vasconcellos, D-Santa Clara, is at it again. The same dude who, over a decade ago, established that immensely productive state task force on self-esteem, has recently joined with a group of like-minded legislators to propose giving partial votes to teen-agers. He would give 14- and 15-year-olds quarter-votes. Their 16- and 17-year-old siblings would get half-votes. What's surprising is that the esteem guru of Sacramento would stop short of...

LOS ANGELES - On the sidewalk outside Toy Mandala, a local hangout where teens buy Yu-gi-oh cards and then face off for unofficial competition, the conversation turns from fantasy card games to ... politics. "I would so vote if I could. It would be cool," says Tommy Arbor, wearing a beak cap sideways to shield his eyes from afternoon sun. "I would be so clueless," says his opponent, who calls himself simply "Shags" and wears a SpongeBob SquarePants T-shirt. "School bonds, budgets, taxes ... what do I know about that stuff?" The street-side back-and-forth typifies a new debate that is...

<p>State Sen. John Vasconcellos, D-Santa Clara, is at it again. The same dude who, over a decade ago, established that immensely productive state task force on self-esteem, has recently joined with a group of like-minded legislators to propose giving partial votes to teen-agers. He would give 14- and 15-year-olds quarter-votes. Their 16- and 17-year-old siblings would get half-votes.</p>

KATU 2 News - Portland, Oregon www.katu.com Lowering voting age to 14 proposed in California March 10, 2004 - By JIM WASSERMAN SACRAMENTO, Calif. - A proposed amendment to California's constitution would give 16-year-olds a half-vote and 14-year-olds a quarter-vote in state elections. State Sen. John Vasconcellos, among four lawmakers to propose the idea on Monday, said the Internet, cellular phones, multi-channel television and a diverse society makes today's teens better informed than their predecessors. The idea requires two-thirds approval by the Legislature to appear on the November ballot. "When we gave the vote to those who didn't own property,...

PONTEFICATIONS THOSE WHO SET VOTING’S BOUNDARIES GET THE POWER. This dirty little secret has shaped our politics since 1812, when Massachusetts Governor Elbridge Gerry re-drew the boundaries of state Senate districts to favor the election of his fellow Jeffersonians. A map of these oddly-shaped new districts resembled a salamander, which wags soon named a “gerrymander,” a name that lives on in infamy as a high political art form. Gerrymandering defeats democracy by redistributing votes. Imagine three adjoining congressional districts that among them have an equal number of Republicans and Democrats. A careful vote count will reveal which precincts and neighborhoods...

California lawmakers propose lowering voting age to 14 for state elections JIM WASSERMAN, Associated Press Writer Monday, March 8, 2004 03-08) 18:39 PST SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- A proposed amendment to California's constitution would give 16-year-olds a half-vote and 14-year-olds a quarter-vote in state elections. State Sen. John Vasconcellos, among four lawmakers to propose the idea on Monday, said the Internet, cellular phones, multichannel television and a diverse society makes today's teens better informed than their predecessors. The idea requires two-thirds approval by the Legislature to appear on the November ballot. "When we gave the vote to those who didn't...