We should implement proxy voting for children to ensure they are represented in our democracy: parents would receive proxy votes for up to two children and would use these votes in all elections. This would help ensure that appropriate attention is given to issues that affect the future (e.g., education and the environment) and not just today.
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Children are citizens, too, and their voices should be heard at the ballot box.* Our children have a vested interest in the decisions our governments make. However, they have no voice since they aren’t represented in the electoral process. One consequence of this fact is that investments in the future are more difficult to launch. Education and the environment, for example, are two issues with significant impact on children, but have relatively less value for older voters. While the voices of other voters are clearly heard, children have no voice at all at the ballot box. We should change this.
Children don’t have the experience, cognitive skills, and judgment to vote on their own. But their parents can vote on their behalf; parents represent their children in myriad ways in society, so this is a logical solution. Parents should have a vote to represent themselves and a vote to represent their child.
Two logistical issues need to be addressed to make this process work effectively.
First, should there be a limit on the number of votes a parent has? In other words, should a parent with six children have a vote for each of them? Might this create an incentive for people to have more children, or is there some other negative consequence of giving parents with many children more votes? Possibly. I would recommend that parents receive one proxy vote per child for up to two children, but not more. I think it’s important not to create incentives for large families in modern society with constrained resources and environmental concerns. But I’m not sure how strongly I hold this belief, and could be convinced, given a strong rationale, that every child deserves a voice regardless of the size of their family.
Second, how should votes be allocated in the case of unmarried or divorced parents? The simplest solution is to assign the vote to the parent with legal custody. In the case of split custody, the allocation of the vote is included as part of the divorce negotiations and custody process and is assigned to one of the parents.
Proxy votes to represent children at the ballot box would help give all citizens a voice in the process, and would help ensure that issues affecting citizens in the future get as much attention as concerns of the present.
* This is an idea that my friend Michael Parides first shared with me over lunch several years ago. I thought it made sense then and it still does now.