A couple of Wellesley teenagers are looking to make the town a leader in the movement to allow 16- and 17-year-olds to vote in municipal elections, and Annual Town Meeting this spring will have its chance to support such change when voting on Article 48.
Skye Jacobs, an 18-year-old Wellesley High School senior, and Anya Khera, a 16-year-old Dana Hall School sophomore, are behind the citizen petition advocating to give younger people voting rights in town.
They passed their first test by getting Article 48 on the Town Meeting warrant as a citizen petition, a process Jacobs described as “pretty straightforward” thanks to guidance from the Town Clerk’s office.
“Reactions [from those asked for signatures] ranged from extremely positive to more cautious. Across the board, people were immediately intrigued by the initiative and wanted to learn more about our motivations and the potential effects. Through those conversations, we’ve found that one of the most appealing aspects of lowering the voting age is the prospective increase in youth civic participation,” Jacobs wrote to us.
They passed their next test on Feb. 29 by receiving an 11-to-3 favorable vote from the Wellesley Advisory Committee, which vets Town Meeting articles. Jacobs and Khera made their initial presentation before Advisory and answered questions at the committee’s Jan. 31 meeting.
Next up will be actual Town Meeting, which kicks off on March 25 at Wellesley High School.
Convincing Advisory
Khera told Advisory that the citizen petition is part of a national movement to allow 16- and 17-year-olds to vote in local elections. The movement began in 2013 in Takoma Park, Md., she said, but has seen activity and some approvals in other states, including California and New Jersey (more than a dozen countries also have voting ages starting at 16 or 17). The focus has been strictly on School Committee or Council voting in some communities, but Article 48 seeks broader local voting rights.
The argument in favor of lowering the local voting age includes that youth are greatly affected by and involved in issues such as climate change, gun violence, school curricula, and immigration. It’s a more inclusive approach to voting, the advocates say, and would serve to develop a more educated electorate.
Khera pointed to low participation in Wellesley elections by 18-24-year-olds, and made a case that getting people to start voting even younger could build better voting habits (it was acknowledged during discussion that measuring the youth vote is tricky given many tend to be out of town and might even be voting in communities where they attend college). The fact that 16- and 17-year-olds would largely be at home, as opposed to being away at school or in a job, could increase their likelihood for engagement in local elections, the proponents said. There’s been some indication in communities where a lower voting age is allowed that election participation has increased in the next age demographic as those 16- and 17-year-olds age, the proponents said.
They also aimed to debunk ideas that these younger citizens are any less cognitively developed than 18-year-olds, and argued that members of society who can work, drive, and pay taxes, should also have the right to vote.
Khera, a a member of the Vote16USA Youth Advisory Board for Generation Citizen, impressed Advisory by playing a sample of her “Voices for Vote16” podcast series in which she interviewed youths, lawyers, activists, and others on this topic.
If Town Meeting were to approve this citizen petition in Wellesley, a home rule petition would then need to be sent to the state by the town. The legislature and Governor would then need to approve the change. A handful of other Massachusetts communities are advocating for a lower voting age in their local elections, Jacobs said, and there’s a move afoot via a proposed “Empower Act” to ditch the home rule process for this issue.
Advisory members sought some assurance that local schools are teaching civics (Wellesley Middle School provides this to 8th graders). The issue of cost was also raised, as 16- and 17-year-olds would need to be separated from others when ballots involve state positions as well. An issue for others is that while 16- and 17-year-olds might be paying income taxes, they’re generally not paying the property taxes that are so much at stake in local elections.
But all in all, committee members were in favor of the article. Advisory’s Gail Sullivan said “I especially like the idea of getting the youth used to voting. I have found it discouraging when there is a low youth participation, especially in the Presidential and federal elections.”
More than one Advisory member said their initial reaction to the petition was not favorable, but that the arguments for the change swayed them. “I heard the proponents give their presentation and I thought, jeez, these kids know more than a lot of adults who are out there voting or not voting,” said Advisory’s Philip Jameson.
Citizen petition motivation
Jacobs and Khera, who answered a handful of questions from us via email, described their motivation for submitting Article 48: “As youth members of the League of Women Voters (Wellesley) and former and aspiring Town Meeting Members, we are both passionate about youth civic and political participation. Voting is a fundamental and powerful way to do this, which is what inspired our petition.”
They had no hard data about interest by Wellesley’s 16- and 17-year-olds in voting, but “we look to the numerous politically orientated clubs—including several variations of sustainability and diversity-centered clubs—at Wellesley High School as an indication that our young adults care about political issues. It’s a mistake to think young adults ‘aren’t interested’ in voting! We go to school, drive cars, access public services—and so, are automatically and profoundly included in issues that impact these spaces, such as climate justice, gun control, health care, school curriculums, and infrastructure, to name a few. These issues have consequences today and impacts to the future world we’ll inherit. As a result, we should be able to participate in the related legislative and policy decisions.”
Experience in Takoma Park, Md., the first U.S. jurisdiction to let 16- and 17-year-olds vote, has shown impressive turnout for this age group. “In the first election after the reform (in 2013), 44% of young voters participated, compared to 10% of all voters. In 2015, almost 45% of 16- and 17-year-olds voted, compared to just 21% overall, and in 2020, 69% voted, compared to 54% overall. In fact, in the 2020 federal election, participation amongst newly eligible voters (those aged 18-19), who typically score lower than older youth, showed smaller gaps in Maryland and California, where Vote16 campaigns were successful.”
Jacobs and Khera are well aware of the underwhelming voter turnout in Wellesley, which they call “a great disservice to our community.”
“Because 16- and 17-year-olds would only be able to vote in town elections, lowering the voting age would draw attention to those elections and encourage our young adults to build the habit of ‘voting local,'” they said.
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This is beautiful! Just like how Burlington Vermont activists lowered the voting age to 16 after a 5 year uphill battle!
Really the voting age should be zero!
This is great they want to be able to vote. However they are to young, not in favor of lowering the age to vote at this time.