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Common Cause Maryland is encouraging local officials to allow more young people to vote in local elections.
The nonprofit advocacy organization, based in Annapolis, posed a question in a recent mass email: 鈥淒o you agree with lowering the voting age to 16 for local elections so young people can have a say in the issues that directly impact them?鈥�
Alyssa Canty, director of youth programs for Common Cause, said in an interview that most young people learn civics lessons as teenagers.
鈥淭heir dependency on local policies [for] public transportation, funding for their schools and all of those things [becomes more obvious to them] when they鈥檙e in high school,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 just really important for young people to really be a part of the decision-making process when it comes to things that affect them.鈥�
Some local officials concur.
Residents age 16 and 17 in the town of Somerset in Montgomery County will be permitted to vote in next year鈥檚 local election to select two councilmembers and the mayor.
Town Manager Matthew Trollinger said that 60% of residents approved of a non-binding referendum to lower the voting age this summer. One of the people who led to the effort to educate residents about the proposal was Amalia Leventon, now a high school senior.
Trollinger said the town plans to also establish a youth council by January.
鈥淚t serves a few purposes. One, to increase civic participation and understanding among the young people on municipal issues,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hen second, another outlet for young people to make their voices heard and bring issues of interest to the council.鈥�
Voters in the city of Rockville, the county seat in Montgomery, will have a chance to decide on the November ballot whether to allow residents ages 16 and older to vote in local elections.
If voters say yes, then Rockville will join Somerset and the towns of Takoma Park and Chevy Chase, also in Montgomery County.
Although Angelina Xu won鈥檛 be able to vote in Rockville鈥檚 election because she turns 18 next year, she said teenagers can learn about voting while at home with parents or guardians, especially if they attend college in a different region or state.
鈥淲e trust teenagers to go on the road [and] drive. We trust them to apply for higher education and fill out the college application and make career decisions for themselves,鈥� said Xu, 17, president of the Maryland Association of Student Councils and a senior at Richard Montgomery High School in Rockville. 鈥淭he best way to help young Americans fulfill their civic duty is by giving them the resources at a younger age.鈥�
Among Maryland鈥檚 157 municipalities, seven allow 16- and 17-year-olds to vote in local elections, including Greenbelt, Hyattsville, Mount Rainier and Riverdale Park in Prince George鈥檚 County.
鈥淭hey are voting for local officials [such as] mayor or council. These are people who you might run into at local coffee shops. These are people they can actually see out in the community and see the impact of policies [they approved],鈥� said Hyattsville City Clerk Laura Reams. She鈥檚 worked in the city for about 10 years including when the voting age was lowered from 16 to 18 in 2015.
National movement?
, Maryland, 17 other states and Washington, D.C., allow 17-year-olds to vote in statewide primary elections, if they will turn 18 by the general election.
聽neighboring D.C., Virginia and 13 other states permit 16-year-olds to preregister to vote, according to the league of cities.
In California, elected officials in Oakland and Berkeley passed measures to allow those 16 and older to vote in school board elections. Young people are already voting in Berkeley, but it鈥檚 scheduled to happen聽.
In June,聽聽overrode a governor鈥檚 veto to allow 16- and 17-year-olds to vote in local elections in the town of Brattleboro.
The New Jersey Institute for Social Justice published聽聽Aug. 31 advocating for 16- and 17-year-olds to vote in local elections.
鈥淵oung people are affected by the same policies as adults, but have no say in deciding their representatives,鈥� according to the document. 鈥淓veryone, including 16-year-olds, deserves the right to vote on issues that directly impact them.鈥�
Generation Citizen, based in New York, supports having teenagers vote in local elections through a national campaign it organized known as Vote16USA.
Andrew Wilkes, chief policy and advocacy officer聽with Generation Citizen, said Maryland is leading 鈥渁n emerging movement鈥� to lower the voting age.
The state was fertile ground, as it was the first in the nation to create a聽, some of its cities and towns have home rule authority and the聽聽led a study to mobilize voters 18 years old and younger.
鈥淢aryland is just a stone鈥檚 throw from the nation鈥檚 capital. In some ways, we hope as Maryland goes so does the nation,鈥� Wilkes said in an interview.
A commentary published in February by聽聽states those age 9 to 24 and millennials age 25 to 40 are poised to become the majority of potential voters in five years and to exceed 60% by 2036.
Their preference in the voting booth: the Democratic Party.
鈥淓ven worse for the GOP鈥檚 future, a majority of younger Republican voters are closer to the Democratic Party鈥檚 positions on these cultural issues than they are to their own party鈥檚 posture,鈥� according to Brookings. 鈥淗owever, the Republican generational gap is not significant on economic issues. To take advantage of this potential opening with younger voters, the Republican Party would have to reverse their current emphasis on 鈥榳okeness鈥� and pound away on the country鈥檚 economic unease instead.鈥�
Not logical?
Not everyone agrees that 16- and 17-year-olds should vote.
鈥淚鈥檓 personally opposed to lowering the voting age in any capacity,鈥� Sen. Jason Gallion (R-Harford and Cecil) said in an email Sept. 7. 鈥淲hile some 16-year-olds are fully capable of casting an informed vote, I believe waiting until 18 allows them extra time to go through important life experiences and learn to think more critically and independently before casting an informed vote.鈥�
During some public safety discussions in Annapolis, House Minority Leader Jason Buckel (R-Allegany) said some of his Democratic colleagues claim juveniles, including young adults in their 20s, 鈥渁llegedly don鈥檛 have the ability to make decisions about right or wrong when it comes to criminal acts.鈥�
鈥淧eople in the majority party in Annapolis who stand up and say that [juveniles鈥橾 brains aren鈥檛 fully formed, their emotions aren鈥檛 under control, they鈥檙e not mature enough to appreciate their actions when they shoot someone, or stab someone, or hurt someone. I find that hard to juxtapose against someone who says they should have the right to vote,鈥� said Buckel, who serves on the House Ways and Means Committee, which reviews legislation on elections and voting.
Buckel continued: 鈥淚 get the concept. We want to get young people enthused and let people vote. But at the end of the day, I just think it鈥檚 completely illogical to suggest that someone who the law bars from a wide variety of activities and rights that are constitutionally protected when you鈥檙e an adult, but we鈥檙e going to extend constitutional voting rights to a minor. It鈥檚 an idea that really doesn鈥檛 have a lot of logical sense.鈥�
Sen. Cheryl Kagan (D-Montgomery), who represents Rockville and supports the city鈥檚 measure to lower the voting age to 16, recalled when she was a child and accompanied her mother聽 to watch her cast a ballot.
鈥淭hat sort of early imprinting has stayed with me. Engaging our young people who are passionate about many policy issues will set them on a path as lifelong voters,鈥� she said. 鈥淎llowing young people鈥檚 voices to be heard is reasonable and makes sense.鈥�
Eneanya Obioha, 17, a high school senior from Howard County, supports letting 16- and 17-year-olds vote in local elections.
Obioha, who leads Youth for Joe Biden in the state, said teenagers in her age bracket should also be allowed to vote in county-wide elections for school boards, county councils and county executive 鈥渂ecause those roles impact teens. Our voices aren鈥檛 really being heard as much.鈥�
