More 16- and 17-year-olds are gaining the right to vote. Could this become the norm?
Amid all the worries about the perennially elusive youth vote, there’s a promising trend to talk about: In a growing number of towns and cities across the U.S., 16- and 17-year-olds are gaining the right to vote. The numbers are still small, but the momentum is real. Advocates say it’s about nurturing lifelong voters. Votebeat looks at the growing trend of youth voting.
Take Newark, New Jersey, which allowed 16- and 17-year-olds to vote in its school board election in April. Teen turnout was only about 3%. But that was better than the adults managed. Besides, as Sam Novey from the University of Maryland’s Center for Democracy and Civic Engagement puts it, the city “started from nothing.”
Indeed, adding younger teens to the voter rolls involves building a lot of things from scratch. After Newark passed its ordinance last year allowing youth voting, officials had to rewire voter registration systems and launch a full-scale education campaign. It was about 14 months before 16- and 17-year-olds could cast their first ballots.
“Comparatively lightning fast,” Novey said.
And there’s a payoff to look forward to.
“Research shows that those who are allowed to register and begin voting at 16 are more likely to vote later in life than their peers,” said Joshua Douglas, a law professor at the University of Kentucky. “It’s an important way to increase participation.”
Source: Youth Suffrage: A Growing Movement For 16- And 17-Year-Old Voters
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