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Naava Ellenberg is a graduate of Lincoln High School who is attending Barnard College. She wrote this for The Mercury News.

Many 18-year-olds are registered for their first semester of college classes, but very few of them are registered to vote. As adults in a democracy, young people have this great privilege and responsibility, yet very few take advantage of the opportunity. Their disregard is not the result of indifference or immaturity, but of an overwhelming amount of new responsibilities.

The group started with a question.

Paul came to Sacramento as a science and technology fellow, after getting his doctorate in molecular Biology.

His program introduces scientists to the policy-side they may need to accomplish their work, while providing technical experience to legislative offices.

He was placed in Assemblymember Evan Low’s office, who chairs the LGBT Caucus. He became an LGBT consultant for the caucus, a role the prior person left open.

By Scott Herhold

Sometimes it takes criticism from another quarter to make you understand your own beliefs. That’s the way I feel about California’s ban on official travel to states that are seen as hostile to LGBT rights.

When California’s new law went into effect at the beginning of the year, it banned paid travel by state employees to Kansas, Mississippi, North Carolina and Tennessee. I saw it as a symbolic move that did not offer much grist for a columnist. The culture wars tire me.

South Bay Assemblymember Evan Low (D-Campbell) and Los Angeles Sen. Senator Ricardo Lara (D-Bell Gardens) were in a mischievous mood when they stopped by KQED’s Sacramento bureau recently to talk about their paths to the State Legislature as openly gay men.

Low is chair of the Legislature’s LGBT caucus and Lara is vice chair. Both men arrived wearing appropriately lavender ties and Low playfully sat on Lara’s lap to pose for a photo.

Uber and Lyft have had lots of success getting friendly laws passed at the state Capitol. For that, they can thank young, tech-friendly Democratic lawmakers, who have teamed up with Republicans who generally support fewer regulations. At the head of that coalition is Assemblyman Evan Low (D-Campbell), who co-founded the Legislature’s tech and millennial caucuses.

The 34-year-old Low, who was elected in 2014, has also written legislation to make it easier for the taxi industry to compete with ride-hailing companies.

LGBT legislative staffers and their allies have formed their own association in Sacramento, believed to be the first in the country based at a statehouse. They are publicly launching the group Monday (May 22) at an event being held to mark Harvey Milk Day.

Dubbed the Capitol LGBT Association, the employee affinity group is open to anyone working in the Statehouse, whether for legislators or state officeholders, at state agencies and departments, or at advocacy groups with offices in Sacramento. Membership is also open to those staffing the district offices of state lawmakers.

The California Legislature has readily embraced its status as vanguard of the "resistance" against President Trump. Now, a Silicon Valley Democrat is ramping up that opposition with a formal measure calling for Trump's removal from office.

Assemblyman Evan Low (D-Campbell) introduced a resolution on Wednesday asking the president to resign from office — and if he doesn't, calling on Congress to impeach him.

Donald Trump's characterization of Mexican immigrants as criminals and rapists during his presidential campaign angered Heidi Sainz, whose family is from Mexico and who has close friends who are immigrants. She was also upset that she couldn't do anything about it at the ballot box because she was a year shy of being able to vote.

Sainz favors a bill in the California Legislature that would lower the voting age to 17, which she thinks would give a voice to more people affected by the outcome of elections.

Santa Clara County’s gaffe-plagued elections office has made one mistake too many for state officials.

An Assembly committee Wednesday approved an audit of Santa Clara County’s Registrar of Voters office requested by Assemblyman Evan Low, D-Campbell, who cited a litany of errors since 2010 from erroneous ballots to counting mishaps that could raise doubts about the validity of election results.

District 28 Assemblyman Evan Low and members from various organizations are hosting a town hall meeting on April 1 focusing on civic engagement.

The town hall will include speakers from the Council on American-Islamic Relations, Planned Parenthood, the American Civil Liberties Union and the Services, Immigration Rights and Education Network.

The meeting is set for 9 to 11 a.m. at Orchard City Banquet Hall Community Center, 1 W. Campbell Ave. Registration not required, although an RSVP is strongly suggested so that adequate seating can be provided.