Livingston Students Join NJ Movement For 16-Year-Olds To Vote

LIVINGSTON, NJ — Why should 17-year-olds be able to drive and pay taxes, but not to vote? That's the conceit of a new movement across New Jersey to lower the voting age from 18 to 16.

A group called Vote16NJ has launched a change.org petition, and has garnered support from high school students around the state, as well as from Councilman David Contract in Westfield.

Livingston High School juniors Lucas Zhu and Eric Brekhman, who are co-presidents of their school's Democrats Club, are collaborating with Contract and others on an amendment to the state constitution to lower the voting age, according to a story in TAPInto this week.

However, the movement is non-partisan.

Contract— part of a slate of five council people who were re-elected to the Westfield Town Council last year — said in a recent Patch story that the movement grew out of his campaign.

He said, "I was talking to my son who was 17 at the time, about getting him excited about my campaign. And he was like, 'Dad, I'm interested, but at the end of the day, I can't vote for you. So why would I be that excited about it when I can't even act on that?"

Contract said that teens from Millburn/Short Hills and Somerville have also gotten involved.

He noted that teens should be able to vote in Board of Education elections and other races that directly affect their lives.

In the local area, teens have even run for Board of Education — such as Millburn school board member Jamie Serruto, who turned 18 two weeks before his own election in 2020.

The two Livingston teens, Zhu and Brinkman, have been involved in politics for some time, and run a political YouTube channel.

But some have been very critical of the idea.

The petition has failed to reach 100 votes, even after more than two weeks. And a story on the movement in Patch last month elicited more than 460 comments, many negative.

"How many 16 and 17 year olds do you think pay any attention to what is going on in their town and in their country?" argued one commenter. "I speak to adults who have no clue."

What do you think about giving 16-year-olds the vote? Comment below. And, got a news tip? Email Patch.

You can learn more about the movement at www.vote16nj.org.

Patch editor Remy Samuels contributed reporting for this story.