I was reading SB 5621 last night (yes, that's what I do to unwind at night, read proposed legislation; it helps me fall asleep), a bill that would lower the voting age in local school board elections to 14, and while I don't particularly remember 14-year-olds doing all that well electing student council representatives when I was that age, if you've ever sat through a Seattle School Board meeting or three, you gotta wonder if, compared to their elders, could the kids do worse?

But putting aside concerns over any impact this bill might have on the quality of the elected officials, what has me leaning in favor of expanding the school board franchise to high schoolers, is the potential impact this might have on the quality of the electors. Get kids voting early, and in races that clearly demonstrate the influence elections have over their day to day lives, and you just might get an uptick in participation in the broader electoral process once they hit 18.

And any uptick in the youth vote couldn't be bad for America, because... well... they couldn't do worse.