Youths Urge Lowering of City Voting Age

For a group of Cambridge youth, all politics is local.

For the last several months, a group of students from Cambridge Rindge and Latin School (CRLS) has been lobbying to lower the voting age in Cambridge School Committee and City Council elections to age 16 in hopes of encouraging young people to become more involved in the political process.

The Youth Action Coalition met with members of the City Council yesterday to promote the idea.

"There's no civic duty more important than voting," said Paul Heintz, a student at CRLS. "Voter turnout is incredibly low, so we're trying to find a way to get young people more involved in the political process."

Heintz said a major goal of the measure is to allow students to vote at a young age on the local level so that they will continue voting in the future.

"If you can establish a habit of voting, it will be more likely that it will continue throughout life," Heintz said.

Other youth coalition members said that approving the lower age would allow students to have a say in local issues by choosing members of the School Committee and City Council-bodies that they say directly affect their lives and their surrounding community.

"It creates accountability," said CRLS student Noah M. Chevalier. "The School Committee and City Council would have to listen to us and respect us."

The students said that voting in high school would also combat youth voter apathy while allowing them to participate in local government before leaving the city for college or careers.

"Many 18- to 24-year-olds feel disillusioned already," said CRLS student Patty Pforte. "But we're still in high school and are immersed in issues of the city."

This local interest and involvement would translate into future political activism, proponents said.

"When you are voting on the local level and can really see the effects and consequences of your vote, you are more likely to stay involved," said CRLS student Hannah N. Jukovsky.

The students also said that the high school environment, where teachers could combine voter education with history and government courses, would be more conducive to getting young people interested in political participation.

"People are more likely to vote when they are still in a supportive, structured learning environment," Heintz said.

The students have been meeting since last fall to organize their efforts. Janice Y. Lee, a recent graduate of the Kennedy School of Government who studied youth political involvement, has been advising the group.

The Youth Action Coalition first spoke before the council last November, garnering the support of several councillors.

Since then, the group has kept in contact with city and school officials in hopes of persuading them to support the measure. The campaign has received the endorsement of many CRLS faculty members, as well as CRLS Principal Paula Evans and School Committee member E. Denise Simmons.

Some councillors, however, still have reservations about lowering the voting age.

Councillor Marjorie C. Decker said she is concerned that lowering the voting age could have implications on the juvenile criminal justice system, saying some may claim that if 16-year-olds can vote then they should be treated as "adults for all purposes," including being tried as adults for crimes.

"Eighteen is the legal age of responsibility and what this society supports as a sign of adulthood," Decker said. "You can't pass this measure without worrying about these consequences. With rights come responsibilities."

Some councillors said they believe 16 is too young, but that they may support allowing 17-year-olds to vote. Student coalition members counter by saying that since local elections are held only every two years, lowering the age to 16 would guarantee that students would be allowed to vote at least once during high school.

Other opponents said that 18 should remain the cutoff age, adding that students can get involved in politics in other ways, such as volunteering for campaigns and attending public meetings.

Five students each year already serve on the Student School Committee, allowing them to sit in on regular School Committee meetings and give advice to committee members.

Councillor Michael A. Sullivan added that student activism in 1996 kept the council from making large cuts in the CRLS budget.

"The idea that voting defines political activism is something I strongly disagree with," said Cambridge citizen Robert Winters.

While the students said they agree there are ways to get involved, they maintained that voting is the best way to have a real impact on the political system.

"Until we have power to make real decisions, we'll just be a bunch of children whining, and jumping up and down and complaining," said CRLS student Max G.C. Prum.

Members of the Cambridge Election Commission also attended yesterday's meeting. While they have not taken a position on the issue, the members brought up the feasibility of implementing the lower voting age, discussing how registration would be implemented and whether separate voting lists and ballots would have to be created for students only voting in Cambridge elections.

"The devil's in the details on how this would work," said Councillor Kenneth E. Reeves `72.

At the end of yesterday's discussion, the committee decided to refer the matter back to the entire council in coming weeks for a vote. In order to approve the measure, the majority of the council will have to pass a home rule petition that would then have to be approved by the Massachusetts state legislature.

The council passed a similar home rule petition last November to allow non-citizen immigrants with children in Cambridge schools to vote in School Committee elections. That petition has not yet received state approval.

Members of the Youth Action Coalition said they think they have the needed support from the council, but that they will continue working to gather support.

Nearly 1,000 16- and 17-year-olds in Cambridge public schools, as well as a smaller number of students enrolled in private schools, would be given the franchise if the measure passed.

Heintz said he believes lowering the voting age is worth trying-especially in Cambridge, a community known for local political activism.

"This is a social experiment. It if would work anywhere, it would work in Cambridge," Heintz said. "There's a problem, and we think this is a viable solution."

-Staff writer Imtiyaz H. Delawala can be reached at delawala@fas.harvard.edu.