The very moment a child is born on United States soil, he or she automatically acquires US citizenship (14th Amendment of the US Constitution: "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside" ), with all the rights and responsibilities citizenship entails. Among the rights of US citizens is the right to vote. And with that vote, citizens can defend their other rights, protect their interests, and ensure their needs are met.

So, once born, what does a child need?

1. To grow in a loving family
2. To receive adequate care, health services and education
3. To inherit prosperous and fair economic conditions and a healthy environment

Who looks after those interests? The child's parents or legal guardians, presumably. And the State, supposedly, through policies and legislation enacted by our elected representatives. But those "representatives" represent their constituents, and more particularly, their voters. It is through the vote that citizens defend their interests in the democratic arena.

Today, the last disenfranchised group to be discriminated against and denied the right to vote, as yesterday women and blacks were, is the group formed by United States citizens under 18 years of age. It is precisely the children in our society who will live longer with the consequences of election results. They are the most affected by them (war, debt, pollution, low wages...); how illogical that it is precisely they who are excluded from participating.

The most cost-efficient, revolutionary change for the good of everyone in America today, is to recognize that all persons who are citizens of the United States, regardless of age, have the Right to Vote, and then, to facilitate the exercise of this Right. Representation of the minor by his or her guardian, tutor, caretaker or legal representative, is a common and widely accepted practice for the exercise of his or her estate-related or other rights. It is incongruous that this representation should not be applied in the case of the most important of all political rights, preserver of all other rights.