Expanding the voter rolls
SAN DIEGO – Voter rolls would be expanded if the electorate approves Proposition 17 to reinstate prisoners who have completed their prison terms, and Proposition 18 to permit primary election voting by 17-year-olds who will turn 18 before the November general election.
Opponents of Proposition 17 say convicts who get out of prison should be required to complete their terms of parole before being allowed to vote again. Opponents of Proposition 18 say that 17-year-olds are overly influenced by their high school teachers and therefore will be likely to vote for school bonds.
Those arguing to let prisoners vote who have completed their prison terms say ex-prisoners “should be encouraged to re-enter society and have a stake in the community. Restoring their voting rights does that.” Those calling for permitting 17-year-olds, who will turn 18 by election day, to vote say “We need youth voices to be represented at the ballot box. Allowing some 17-year-olds to vote in primary elections if, and only if, they will be 18 by the time of the general election is a simple way to amplify the voices of young voters throughout California and will lead to a more inclusive elective process for our state overall.”
One gets the idea that behind both sets of arguments are partisan calculations about how prisoners and 17-year-olds are likely to vote once they obtain that right. We see a Republican legislator opposing one of the measures and Democratic legislators supporting them both.
The opponents to allowing the 17-year-olds to vote argue, in the official voter pamphlet, “If 17-year-olds are allowed to vote in primary special elections, perhaps even filling out a mail-in ballot right in the classroom, these students could provide the margin to approve new debt and taxes that will greatly burden their parents and all taxpayers.”
The idea that teachers will stand in the classroom while students fill in their mail-in ballots is what lawyers like to call a “hypothetical horrible” – an imagined outcome far worse than reality. The right to cast a secret ballot is ingrained in our voting system and widely taught in our public schools. In my experience, like the 18-year-olds they will soon become, youth who go to the trouble to cast ballots generally are excited by the process and give avid attention to the arguments for and against ballot measures and candidates.
Those cosigning the pro-Proposition 17 argument and rebuttal concerning prisoners are Carol Moon Goldberg, president of the League of Women Voter of California; Jay Jordan, executive director of Californians for Safety and Justice; Assemblyman Kevin McCarty, D-Sacramento (who authored the legislation), and Abdi Soltani, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union for Northern California.
Those signing the opposition arguments are Harriet Salarno, founder of Crime Victims United of California; State Sen. Jim Nielsen (R-Tehama), and Ruth Weiss, vice president of the Election Integrity Project California.
In the case of Proposition 18, which is about 17-year-olds (too bad Prop. 17 wasn’t about 17-year-olds to make remembering it easy), those offering arguments and rebuttals in behalf of the proposition are Democratic Assemblymembers Kevin Mullin, who authored the measure, and Evan Low of the Silicon Valley; Mary Creasman, chief executive officer of the California League of Conservation Voters; and Democratic State Senators Richard D. Roth and Thomas Umberg, who both are retired officers in the U.S. Military. The opponents to extending the franchise to 17-year-olds are Ruth Weiss (who also opposes Proposition 17), Jan Coupal, president of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, and Larry Sand, a retired teacher.
I agree with the proponents of both propositions that enabling the vote for ex-prisoners who have served their terms, and for 17-year-olds who will turn 18 before the general election, will increase participation in our democratic process and build the practice of good citizenship. Accordingly, San Diego Jewish World advocates Yes votes on Propositions 17 and 18.
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Donald H. Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World. He may be contacted via donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com