NJ Should Lower Its Voting Age To 16 – Here’s Why, Advocates Say

NEW JERSEY — Lowering the voting age in New Jersey is constitutional. It is “doable.” And if 16 and 17-year-olds are able to cast a ballot in an election, it could help to create a new generation of lifelong voters – and that’s good for everyone, advocates say.

Last week, a report from the Newark-based New Jersey Institute for Social Justice (NJISJ) repeated a call that other advocates have been making over the past few years: Lower the voting age in the Garden State.

“Whether it’s gun safety, LGBTQIA+ rights, climate – or simply the ability to be taught the truth about America’s history around racism and slavery – young people are directly affected every day by school board and municipal policies,” the group said.

“We know they care because we see them speaking out every day,” the NJISJ continued. “They are passionate. They are savvy. And they are concerned. Yet these very same young people have no voice in choosing the representatives who decide the policies that affect their lives, their futures and the world around them that they and their loved ones will inherit.”

“We can change that,” the nonprofit urged. Read the full report here.

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.”

Not everyone is on board with the idea of lowering the voting age to 16, 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.”

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.

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:

“Advocates of 16-year-old voting have not grappled with two significant risks to adolescents of their agenda. First, a right to vote entails a corresponding accessibility to campaigns. Campaign speech is highly protected, and 16-year-old voting invites more unfettered access to minors by commercial, government, and political interests than current law tolerates… Second, voting is the most significant civil right. The history of other campaigns to earn the vote, including Woman’s Suffrage and 18-year-old voting, suggests that lowering the voting age will lead to a more far-reaching civil equality, meaning a lower age of majority, regardless of the current protestations of the Vote16 advocates. Lowering the voting age will therefore undermine the protective commitments we make to youth in school, in the justice system, and in the child welfare system.”

But advocates for lowering the voting age have challenged the assumption that 16-year-olds are too immature to be trusted with an enormous responsibility like voting.

“Despite their age, research shows that not only are 16- and 17-year-olds neurologically and socially mature enough to vote responsibly, they are as equally informed about and engaged in political issues as their older counterparts,” the group argued. “As they enter their formative years, it is imperative that they are empowered to use that knowledge at the polls and make voting a habit.”

• See Related: New NJ Law Will Teach Students How To Be Responsible News Consumers

The NJISJ offered several other reasons for lowering the voting age:

YOUTH CAN DO A LOT AT 16 – “The legal definition linking adulthood to the age of 18 should not be a deterrent for expanding our democracy. The legal age of consent in many states, including New Jersey, is 16, and the compulsory school attendance age ends at 16. Most states in our country have set the driving age at 16. Sixteen-year-olds can make financial contributions to a political campaign, volunteer in campaigns and serve as poll workers. Since 2017, residents 14 and older in Freehold Borough have been allowed to vote in the participatory budgeting process to decide how officials spend up to $200,000 on projects that benefit the entire community. Other Garden State cities have adopted a similar participatory budgeting process in recent years, including Neptune City and Asbury Park. Many people under 18 also have ‘adult’ responsibilities – such as being the primary caregiver for an ailing family member, running a business or making substantial financial contributions to their households.”

TEENS SHOULD GET A VOICE IN SCHOOL POLICY – “Young people are affected by the same policies as adults but have no say in deciding their representatives. This is especially true for local elections such as school board elections. School boards set policies and establish budgets for the entire school district. This includes input in teacher contracts, quality of school buildings and selecting what textbooks and programs students use.”

SOCIAL ACTIVISM SHOULD EQUAL POWER – “A growing number of young people are engaging in social activism – protesting about climate change, women’s and LGBTQ rights, immigration, gun control and Black Lives Matter. However, despite exercising their First Amendment rights, they lack real power in the systems that affect them. Everyone, including 16-year-olds, deserves the right to vote on issues that directly impact them.”

The NJISJ said that lowering the voting age wouldn’t conflict with the New Jersey Constitution, which grants an affirmative right to vote to those 18 and older – but doesn’t prohibit voting for those who are younger.

“The age mentioned in the Constitution should be read as a floor rather than a ceiling,” the group said.

New Jersey should move ahead with a state law that lowers the voting age, advocates continued. But that doesn’t mean towns and cities need to play the waiting game:

“Municipalities in New Jersey can pass local laws right now regarding voting rights and elections. Though the state’s election law statutes enumerate the limited circumstances under which certain persons who otherwise meet the requirements are prohibited from voting, they do not bar anyone from voting because they are under 18.”

“Furthermore, neither the New Jersey Constitution nor election law statutes state that the New Jersey State Legislature gets to determine the age for local races, which means that local governments can make this decision on their own,” the NJISJ said.

• See Related: Lower Voting Age To 16, Green Party Senate Candidate In NJ Says
• See Related: More Essex County Teens Join NJ Movement For 16-Year-Olds To Vote
• See Related: Belleville's Youngest-Ever BOE Member: 'My Age DOES Matter'

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