Newark First In NJ To Lower Voting Age To 16 For School Elections

NEWARK, NJ — Newark has become the first municipality in New Jersey to allow 16-year-olds to vote in local school board elections.

On Wednesday, the Newark City Council gave a final green light to an ordinance that lowers the voting age for Newark Board of Education elections from 18 to 16-years-old (watch the video below, cued to the discussion).

An estimated 7,257 additional teens in New Jersey's largest city will now be able to take part in an election that saw just 3 percent of registered voters turn out last year, advocates say.

Most of those young voters are people of color, according to the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice (NJISJ), an advocacy group that has pushed for the local ordinance.

In addition to electing school board members, the new voters will be able to cast ballots for the annual budget for the largest public school district in the state.

Read the full text of the proposed law here.

“This is what democracy looks like – right here in Newark, New Jersey,” said Ryan Haygood, NJISJ president and CEO.

Wednesday's vote also got a big cheer from two students at the highly rated Science Park High School.

“I have witnessed firsthand the direct impact that school board decisions can have on the daily lives of students,” said Nathaniel Esubonteng, a 16-year-old junior.

“Our educational experiences are shaped by these policies, and those directly affected – us students – deserve a way to ensure school board candidates who reflect our values and listen to our needs are in office,” Esubonteng said.

Another junior at the high school, Breanna Campbell, said that lowering the voting age will ensure that her voice and others to come will be acknowledged and valued.

Newark joins the cities of Oakland and Berkley in California in lowering the voting age to 16 for school board elections. Battleboro, Vermont and the municipalities of Greenbelt, Hyattsville, Riverdale Park and Takoma Park in Maryland have lowered the voting age to 16 for all local elections.

Newark's mayor and city council president both said they are behind the city's new voting age.

“Today, Newark stands as a leader in democracy in New Jersey,” said Mayor Ras Baraka, a former educator. “Today’s vote will energize our youth and our elections – and our school boards and communities will reap the benefits.”

“This ordinance is good for our young people, good for Newark and good for New Jersey,” agreed city council president LaMonica McIver, one of its sponsors.

VOTING AT 16: GOOD OR BAD IDEA?

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 Patch readers have put the theory more plainly. “Yes, let's give the right to vote to kids who eat Tide pods,” one commenter quipped in a recent article on the topic.

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.

Last year, the NJISJ released a report that pushed to lower the voting age statewide – for all elections in New Jersey.

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 NJISJ.

“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.”

In Newark, however, progress is being made, according to city council member Patrick Council.

“Our democracy is stronger, and our city is better served when our young people have a say in a system that directly impacts their lives, which is more important today than ever,” Council said.

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