The Push To Suppress Young Adult Voting

By on March 25, 2011 in News 40

3003066074_6b9c74fdd6Ever heard baby boomers bemoan young people’s lack of political engagement? Well, some feel the opposite.

William O’Brien, the newly-minted speaker of the state House in New Hampshire, is peeved that college students are able to vote: “Foolish…Voting as a liberal. That’s what kids do.” They lack “life experience,” and “they just vote their feelings.”

State Republican lawmakers across the country share O’Brien’s sentiment. In disregard of the Twenty-Sixth Amendment, they are mounting a concerted and sustained push to reduce young adults’ voting rights, the Washington Post reports:

New Hampshire’s new Republican state House speaker is pretty clear about what he thinks of college kids and how they vote. They’re “foolish,” Speaker William O’Brien said in a recent speech to a tea party group.

“Voting as a liberal. That’s what kids do,” he added, his comments taped by a state Democratic Party staffer and posted on YouTube. Students lack “life experience,” and “they just vote their feelings.”

New Hampshire House Republicans are pushing for new laws that would prohibit many college students from voting in the state – and effectively keep some from voting at all.

One bill would permit students to vote in their college towns only if they or their parents had previously established permanent residency there – requiring all others to vote in the states or other New Hampshire towns they come from. Another bill would end Election Day registration, which O’Brien said unleashes swarms of students on polling places, creating opportunities for fraud.

The measures in New Hampshire are among dozens of voting-related bills being pushed by newly empowered Republican state lawmakers across the country – prompting partisan clashes akin to those already roiling in some states over GOP moves to curb union power.

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  • 5by5

    “They just vote their feelings.”

    No, they just vote their FUTURE. That’s why they’re Liberals.

    They actually think they’re going to HAVE a future, and we should actually prepare for it.

    Whereas a drooling religious chucklenuts like you, does fuck NOTHING to actually solve real problems, because you’re hoping for the apocalypse next Tuesday.

    But of course, you’re totally fine with sending these same kids to Iraq or Afghanistan and throwing them in the meat-grinder there….

  • Guest

    Taxation without representation anyone?

  • Guest

    Taxation without representation anyone?

  • 5by5

    First they came for the unions, then they came for women’s rights, then they came for the “youth vote….

    “They just vote their feelings.”

    No Speaker O’Brien, they just vote their FUTURE. That’s why they’re Liberals.

    They actually think they’re going to HAVE a future, and we should actually prepare for it.

    Whereas a drooling religious chucklenuts like you, does f*ck NOTHING to actually solve real problems, because you’re hoping for the apocalypse next Tuesday.

    But of course, you’re totally fine with sending these same kids to Iraq or Afghanistan and throwing them in the meat-grinder there….

  • 5by5

    First they came for the unions, then they came for women’s rights, then they came for the “youth vote….

    “They just vote their feelings.”

    No Speaker O’Brien, they just vote their FUTURE. That’s why they’re Liberals.

    They actually think they’re going to HAVE a future, and we should actually prepare for it.

    Whereas a drooling religious chucklenuts like you, does f*ck NOTHING to actually solve real problems, because you’re hoping for the apocalypse next Tuesday.

    But of course, you’re totally fine with sending these same kids to Iraq or Afghanistan and throwing them in the meat-grinder there….

  • Brentskinner5

    Scientific research shows that people’s brains do not fully mature until the age of 25 or so. I can tell you that I agree with very little, politically, that I held dear in my late teens and early twenties. And I’m not alone. And it’s not just because of experience. And it’s certainly not because I’ve somehow grown less wise — quite the opposite. Young people should not be voting. Neither should they be fighting our wars. If they’re going to be seen as dependents till their mid-twenties now — just look at ObamaCare provisions — then certainly they should have the rights of dependents, not fully independent members of society. Sheesh.

    • DeepCough

      Yeah, we should keep on delaying adulthood to satisfy the overbearing conservatism of old people.

    • GoodDoktorBad

      “And it’s certainly not because I’ve somehow grown less wise — quite the opposite”.

      Wow, if that isn’t a self deluded statement. Truth is, “more wise” is not what many people become when they get older. Becoming more crusty and set in their ways does not constitute wisdom -necessarily.
      It’s been said. If you “claim to be a wise man, it surely means that I (you) don’t know…”

      It’s pretty arrogant to say that people under 25 are somehow intellectually or emotionly unworthy to vote. It’s a way for an egocentric older person to make himself look better among his older cronies. You are just putting down the young cause they’re an easy target and make you feel as though your age makes you superior. Is that attitude -superior or is it just a “superior attitude”?
      Frankly, its far too general a statement and just encourages more disenfranchisement not to mention widen the generation gap.

    • http://voxmagi-necessarywords.blogspot.com/ VoxMagi

      In the past twenty years, I have never encountered any evidence that the impression I drew when I was 20 was wrong: power moves to entrench itself and avoid any and or all accountability. Once entrenched, it inevitably becomes corrupt…not necessarily out of malice in every case, but almost as a by product of inscrutability. This happens locally, at the state level, and federally. I may have been inexperienced at twenty…but I was perceptive enough to grasp that truth.

    • Forandb

      Where in the world have you been. Mad Hatter’s Tea Party again RIGHT? Was the Pied Piper and his dancing prancing Fox tagging along for their exuberant La Propagandizes parade?
      That insurance is extended to cover our youth, is in response to the high cost of Health Care in this country. Repubs monopolised Health Care has rendered us to the highest cost Health Care in the world. DUH ! Juvenile responsibilities are still at 18 DUH ! So get off your butt and get back to work. Oops sorry repubs took that away from you..

    • Little_green_chicken

      Do you even know what happens when you get older? Your brain starts to die. That’s what has happened to you now, poor man, so I will forgive you for spreading the disease of the self righteous and foolish. Do you not understand that if you start to take away one group of peoples’ rights, then it becomes easier and easier to take another group and another group, until you get……..a holocaust….is that what you want?

  • Brentskinner5

    Scientific research shows that people’s brains do not fully mature until the age of 25 or so. I can tell you that I agree with very little, politically, that I held dear in my late teens and early twenties. And I’m not alone. And it’s not just because of experience. And it’s certainly not because I’ve somehow grown less wise — quite the opposite. Young people should not be voting. Neither should they be fighting our wars. If they’re going to be seen as dependents till their mid-twenties now — just look at ObamaCare provisions — then certainly they should have the rights of dependents, not fully independent members of society. Sheesh.

  • Mamagriff50

    If you want to treat them like children then “treat them like children”. cover them under their parents medical, or state funded,medicaid, until they’re 25. No enlistment until 25, and when they commit a crime charge them as a juvenile until they’re 25……You idiots.

    • Forandb

      Mama; You have missed the point once again. They are just being covered for Health Insurance. Period… Do not go adding laws you are far from qualified to do so. Try to stay with the subject without adding some delusional illusions of you Tea intoxication’s.

  • Mamagriff50

    If you want to treat them like children then “treat them like children”. cover them under their parents medical, or state funded,medicaid, until they’re 25. No enlistment until 25, and when they commit a crime charge them as a juvenile until they’re 25……You idiots.

  • DeepCough

    Yeah, we should keep on delaying adulthood to satisfy the overbearing conservatism of old people.

  • Investinourftre

    Good luck pulling that off, they will be hanging by their shoe strings at the first mention of such an act. Our nation is becoming a joke, a few more weeks and my passport will be here.

  • Anonymous

    Good luck pulling that off, they will be hanging by their shoe strings at the first mention of such an act. Our nation is becoming a joke, a few more weeks and my passport will be here.

  • Zombiefreeworld

    FUCK THE GOVERNMENT

    • Forandb

      Love it or leave it. There is one other alternative, get rid of the repubs and then you can gratify your sexual advances with your partner. Experience will be more enjoyable.

  • Zombiefreeworld

    FUCK THE GOVERNMENT

  • Dolph22

    LOL! The comments here are incredibly entertaining, as is this very misleading article. This article is about as factual as when Palin was railing about “death panels”. It’s sad that so many people fall for this type of drivel without actually knowing the facts.

    • Forandb

      Some people can write and write and there is nothing to read for all of their efforts. Your comment is anecdotal and arbitrary. No substance just blah, blah.. Repub RIGHT?

  • Dolph22

    LOL! The comments here are incredibly entertaining, as is this very misleading article. This article is about as factual as when Palin was railing about “death panels”. It’s sad that so many people fall for this type of drivel without actually knowing the facts.

  • Anonymous

    “And it’s certainly not because I’ve somehow grown less wise — quite the opposite”.

    Wow, if that isn’t a self deluded statement. Truth is, “more wise” is not what many people become when they get older. Becoming more crusty and set in their ways does not constitute wisdom -necessarily.
    It’s been said. If you “claim to be a wise man, it surely means that I (you) don’t know…”

    It’s pretty arrogant to say that people under 25 are somehow intellectually or emotionly unworthy to vote. It’s a way for an egocentric older person to make himself look better among his older cronies. You are just putting down the young cause they’re an easy target and make you feel as though your age makes you superior. Is that attitude -superior or is it just a “superior attitude”?
    Frankly, its far too general a statement and just encourages more disenfranchisement not to mention widen the generation gap.

  • http://voxmagi-necessarywords.blogspot.com/ VoxMagi

    In the past twenty years, I have never encountered any evidence that the impression I drew when I was 20 was wrong: power moves to entrench itself and avoid any and or all accountability. Once entrenched, it inevitably becomes corrupt…not necessarily out of malice in every case, but almost as a by product of inscrutability. This happens locally, at the state level, and federally. I may have been inexperienced at twenty…but I was perceptive enough to grasp that truth.

  • http://voxmagi-necessarywords.blogspot.com/ VoxMagi

    In the past twenty years, I have never encountered any evidence that the impression I drew when I was 20 was wrong: power moves to entrench itself and avoid any and or all accountability. Once entrenched, it inevitably becomes corrupt…not necessarily out of malice in every case, but almost as a by product of inscrutability. This happens locally, at the state level, and federally. I may have been inexperienced at twenty…but I was perceptive enough to grasp that truth.

  • http://voxmagi-necessarywords.blogspot.com/ VoxMagi

    Long before WaPo was reporting this, the alt-press crowd were already furious when this bill got drafted…and copycat versions began to trickle to other states.

    The GOP has already realized that its tactics are not generating jobs or goodwill among any but the most ardent neo-con suckling whackjobs. They don’t have a strategy for 2012 victory that can bring numbers…they have chosen instead to hamstring everyone else that opposes them. It may have started with Acorn…and NPR…and now its unions and universities…but it also includes attacks on voter rights across the board, not just 18-21 year olds. The reason its coming so fast and furious is because there isn’t much time left.

    Imagine a basketball team…with two frightened octogenarians, a guy in a tri fold hat with tea bags hanging from it, a closeted self hating homosexual, a token negro, a couple of Jesus-crispies and a few businessmen with billions of dollars. None of these people are winners on the court…no one shares much in common with them…in fact, they even offend the hell out of everyone else. So they only have one strategy that might win…spend a fortune and find a way to keep the other teams bus from showing up.

    • VITSOL547

      Wow. Excellent analogy.

  • http://voxmagi-necessarywords.blogspot.com/ VoxMagi

    Long before WaPo was reporting this, the alt-press crowd were already furious when this bill got drafted…and copycat versions began to trickle to other states.

    The GOP has already realized that its tactics are not generating jobs or goodwill among any but the most ardent neo-con suckling whackjobs. They don’t have a strategy for 2012 victory that can bring numbers…they have chosen instead to hamstring everyone else that opposes them. It may have started with Acorn…and NPR…and now its unions and universities…but it also includes attacks on voter rights across the board, not just 18-21 year olds. The reason its coming so fast and furious is because there isn’t much time left.

    Imagine a basketball team…with two frightened octogenarians, a guy in a tri fold hat with tea bags hanging from it, a closeted self hating homosexual, a token negro, a couple of Jesus-crispies and a few businessmen with billions of dollars. None of these people are winners on the court…no one shares much in common with them…in fact, they even offend the hell out of everyone else. So they only have one strategy that might win…spend a fortune and find a way to keep the other teams bus from showing up.

  • Forandb

    Suppress and destroy unions and now deny the vote to our citizens. Doth not the fragrance of Fascism smell familiar. WWII and the stench has not evaporated away and Roberts Supreme Court ruling JAN. 2010 of unlimited corporate funds to our politicians with no disclosure has exacerbated the Fascist declaration to our nation Chinese, Iranians, Russian, etc. corporations can now purchase our politicians. For Whom Doth Your Leader Toll For? Corporatism illuminating the thrones for Robber Barons, Monopoles,Dictators,etc…. Remove the voices of “We The People In Order To Form A More Perfect Union” and cast aside their democratic votes step by step and the lash of your new corporatist lord shall subjugate you to their whim.

  • Forandb

    Suppress and destroy unions and now deny the vote to our citizens. Doth not the fragrance of Fascism smell familiar. WWII and the stench has not evaporated away and Roberts Supreme Court ruling JAN. 2010 of unlimited corporate funds to our politicians with no disclosure has exacerbated the Fascist declaration to our nation Chinese, Iranians, Russian, etc. corporations can now purchase our politicians. For Whom Doth Your Leader Toll For? Corporatism illuminating the thrones for Robber Barons, Monopoles,Dictators,etc…. Remove the voices of “We The People In Order To Form A More Perfect Union” and cast aside their democratic votes step by step and the lash of your new corporatist lord shall subjugate you to their whim.

  • Forandb

    Mama; You have missed the point once again. They are just being covered for Health Insurance. Period… Do not go adding laws you are far from qualified to do so. Try to stay with the subject without adding some delusional illusions of you Tea intoxication’s.

  • Forandb

    Love it or leave it. There is one other alternative, get rid of the repubs and then you can gratify your sexual advances with your partner. Experience will be more enjoyable.

  • Forandb

    Some people can write and write and there is nothing to read for all of their efforts. Your comment is anecdotal and arbitrary. No substance just blah, blah.. Repub RIGHT?

  • Forandb

    Where in the world have you been. Mad Hatter’s Tea Party again RIGHT? Was the Pied Piper and his dancing prancing Fox tagging along for their exuberant La Propagandizes parade?
    That insurance is extended to cover our youth, is in response to the high cost of Health Care in this country. Repubs monopolised Health Care has rendered us to the highest cost Health Care in the world. DUH ! Juvenile responsibilities are still at 18 DUH ! So get off your butt and get back to work. Oops sorry repubs took that away from you..

  • VITSOL547

    Wow. Excellent analogy.

  • Curmudgeon

    As a golden ager who was raised as a boy in the ’50′s & came of age in the ’60′s, served in the military for the next two and a half decades & am college educated, I have always thought of myself as a liberal thinker. The very idea of disenfranchising any group of currently registered voters should be abhorrent to all Americans. Over our country’s history, the extension of the franchise to vote has benefited the liberal cause. Traditionally, low turnout at the polls benefits Republican candidates, so the movement to limit voters rights is right in tune with their efforts to return to the late 19th century when unbridled capitalism ruled the day – and I don’t believe I am just whistling “Dixie.”

  • Curmudgeon

    As a golden ager who was raised as a boy in the ’50′s & came of age in the ’60′s, served in the military for the next two and a half decades & am college educated, I have always thought of myself as a liberal thinker. The very idea of disenfranchising any group of currently registered voters should be abhorrent to all Americans. Over our country’s history, the extension of the franchise to vote has benefited the liberal cause. Traditionally, low turnout at the polls benefits Republican candidates, so the movement to limit voters rights is right in tune with their efforts to return to the late 19th century when unbridled capitalism ruled the day – and I don’t believe I am just whistling “Dixie.”

  • Little_green_chicken

    Do you even know what happens when you get older? Your brain starts to die. That’s what has happened to you now, poor man, so I will forgive you for spreading the disease of the self righteous and foolish. Do you not understand that if you start to take away one group of peoples’ rights, then it becomes easier and easier to take another group and another group, until you get……..a holocaust….is that what you want?