One city in California is currently holding a vote on if they should alter the current voting laws to allow sixteen-year-olds to cast a ballot in all local elections in a new ballot measure being considered on Election Day.
The residents of the city in question, Culver City, California, are going to be able to make that decision via a ballot measure, titled Measure VY, on the docket for the midterm elections. This particular measure would possibly let more teenagers, 16 & 17 years old, the power to vote in all school board and city elections. If the area voters choose to go along with the new proposal, the new measure would stay active until another measure is put forth to remove it.
If approved during the midterms, this new measure would be slated to go into effect immediately, but it would instead create a space for the School Board and the City Council to choose if various conditions within the proposal are actually met, including making sure that the voter systems would be able to handle adding in the younger teenagers.
Out in Maryland, there are already a series of six different areas that have passed legislation allowing sixteen- and seventeen-year-olds to cast votes in specific elections, and it seems as though San Francisco tried to push through such a change back in 2020, as reported by the Los Angeles Times. Throughout that election cycle, roughly 49% of the voters in that city stood in favor of a similar proposal to the one currently being considered in Culver City but outright failed to reach the needed cutoff.
The law in Maryland allows cities to lower the voting age requirement via a vote from the city council. As reported by Vote16USA, a total of five municipalities have carried out such a vote and taken action. Activists throughout quite a few other states are calling out for the lowering of the voting age, as well.
The city of Berkeley was the first in California to officially greenlight a proposal for school board races, and it was also done four years later by Oakland, California. Despite all of this, Alameda County has not put forth the measure due to a series of setbacks in its ability to issue resources for the teens to cast their votes.
While many younger people are quite eager to start voting, many others are worried about the measure in Culver City and just what its implications could be if pushed through.
