This NJ City Is Having A History-Making School Election On Tuesday – Here’s Why

NEWARK, NJ — A milestone school election is taking place in New Jersey’s largest city this week, with a unique voting bloc about to take power: 16 and 17-year-olds.

The 2025 Newark School Board Election will take place on Tuesday, April 15. Learn more about voting in New Jersey here.

A total of 11 candidates are competing for three seats on the board (terms last for three years): Kanileah Anderson, Louis Maisonave Jr., David Daughety, Nathanael Barthelemy, Ade’Kamil Kelly, Shana Melius, DeWayne Bush, Jordy Nivar, Yolanda Johnson, Latoya Jackson, and Elaine Asyah Aquil.

The Newark NAACP held a candidate forum on March 13. Read Chalkbeat Newark’s recap of the forum here.

Last year, Newark became the first city in New Jersey to lower the voting age to 16 for local school board elections. The move gave an estimated 7,000 teens a chance to cast their first ballots. Read More: Newark First In NJ To Lower Voting Age To 16 For School Elections

City and school officials embarked on a mass outreach campaign to local youth, encouraging them to register to vote ahead of the March 25 deadline. Read More: Landmark Voter Registration Drive Begins In Newark

Many of them responded, with more than 1,800 newly eligible voters registering for their first elections, NJ Spotlight News reported.

While many people are enthusiastic about the campaign to register these new voters, others say more oversight is needed, TAPinto Newark reported.

Outside of Newark, the voting age remains at 18 in New Jersey – although 17-year-olds are allowed to vote in primary elections if they are set to turn 18 by the general election.

Some people have supported lowering the voting age for school elections in New Jersey, including outgoing Gov. Phil Murphy.

Murphy – who is term-limited and can’t run again this year – joined a non-partisan voter registration drive to encourage Newark youth to vote in March.

“Newark has set a national standard for youth voting rights by allowing 16- and 17-year-olds to vote in their local school board elections,” Murphy said. “Providing young people a say in issues that directly impact their lives is not only the right thing to do, but also helps make voting into a lifelong habit.”

“At a time when our democracy is threatened, we must do everything we can to empower the next generation by instilling in them the value of civic engagement,” the governor added.

Newark Mayor Ras Baraka – who is running for governor in 2025 – was also among those supporting this year’s historic voter registration drive in the city.

“This April, we are proud to make history as 16- and 17-year-olds in Newark will have the opportunity to vote in our school board elections for the very first time,” the mayor previously said.

“We hope this experience will inspire a lifelong commitment to civic engagement and active participation in our democracy,” Baraka added.

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Not everyone is on board with lowering the voting age, however.

A study from 2012 said that the main argument made against lowering the voting age is that young people under 18 “lack the ability and motivation to participate effectively in the electoral process.”

Another study authored by a professor of law at Boston University in 2020 said there are two main risks to lowering the voting age to 16: giving politicians and lobbyists more access to juveniles, and undermining the “protective commitments” that are made to youth in school, in the justice system and in the child welfare system.

Some Republican state lawmakers in New Jersey have claimed that the idea of lowering the voting age is a political ploy to pad Democratic voter totals, The New York Times reported.

“Give me a break,” Sen. Declan O’Scanlon said, adding that most 16- and 17-year-olds are not taxpayers and are “not ready to make these decisions.”

But supporters of lowering the voting age are challenging the assumption that a 16-year-old is too immature to be trusted with an enormous responsibility such as voting.

According to the sponsors of Newark's ordinance, 16 and 17-year-olds are already entrusted with driving, paying taxes and working. They are also allowed to make financial contributions to a political campaign, volunteer in political campaigns, serve as poll workers, write letters to officials and attend political rallies.

In 2023, the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice released a report that pushed to lower the voting age statewide – for all elections.

Several high school and college students in New Jersey spoke to the NJISJ as part of its study, urging their fellow Garden State residents to take up the call.

“If kids are old enough to be forced to give birth, they should have the right to vote for or against the policies affecting them,” college student Lelah Tekhna said.

Another argument for lowering the voting age? Taxation without representation, an unnamed high school student told the group.

“16- and 17-year-olds are old enough to work and be taxed, but currently have no say in laws or policies that affect them,” the youth said.

Other young supporters of the campaign include high school student Sam Altman, who urged Baby Boomers to remember their own experience during the Vietnam War. The 26th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution lowered the voting age to 18 in 1971.

“The students in the Vietnam era protested to lower the voting age to 18 because 18-year-olds were being sent off to die without a voice,” Altman said. “Well now, 16- and 17-year-olds are being killed and attacked literally and figuratively without a seat at the table. They are pawns on the political table, without a means to protect themselves.”

• See Related: NJ Should Lower Its Voting Age To 16 – Here’s Why, Advocates Say
• See Related: Proposed NJ Law Would Let 16-Year-Olds Vote In School Elections

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