Teens might face pushback from parents
Bay State teens lobbying Beacon Hill legislators for a chance to lower the voting age in municipal elections could face local pushback despite recent support from prominent pols like U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
That’s because a bipartisan majority of voters across Massachusetts and the country strongly oppose the idea of lowering the voting age to 16 years old, according to several polls on the issue.
“The first concern I have is, well, I have a 15-year-old,” said a laughing City Councilor at large Annissa Essaibi-George, who has concerns about allowing 16year-olds to vote.
“They’re still children and voting is a tremendous honor and responsibility, and a 16-year-old to me is still a kid,” she said.
State residents can weigh in on Wednesday at a legislative hearing on a bill that would allow cities and towns to decide if 16- and 17year-olds can vote in local elections. Municipalities currently have to ask for approval from the Legislature if they want to allow anyone under 18 years old to cast a vote.
Teens have become increasingly vocal in politics in recent years, with Boston teens staging an increasing number of citywide walkouts since 2016 to protest everything from low school funding to climate change.
A move to lower the voting age exploded onto the political stage last year when Pressley introduced an amendment in the U.S. House of Representatives arguing that 16- and 17-yearolds should be able to vote in national elections, saying they have “earned inclusion in our democracy.”
Pelosi voiced support for the amendment while Republicans opposed it, blasting the move as a ploy to create more Democratic voters.
“I’m of the opinion that we shouldn’t arbitrarily lower the voting age just because right now, I believe Democrats think they’ll gain more votes,” said Rep. Rodney Davis, R-Ill., during the House debate last March.
The House defeated the amendment last year, but several local Democrats continued the fight to lower the election age in Massachusetts. Somerville city councilors passed a measure last May seeking to lower the municipal election voting age.
Boston City Councilor Michael Flaherty said he supports the state legislation that’s up for review, saying that teenage civic engagement should be encouraged.
“Our young people are very much impacted at a local level by decisions being made at City Hall — their educational opportunities, youth employment opportunities and a host of other issues — so it makes sense that they have a say,” Flaherty said.
Bay State voters, meanwhile, overwhelmingly oppose attempts to extend the voting age despite its recent popularity among Democrats, according to a poll conducted by Western New England University.
Only 29% of likely voters in Massachusetts support lowering the voting age, with 69% strongly opposing the idea, according to the WNEU survey conducted last April. The majority of voters across demographic and partisan groups who opposed the idea basically said the teens aren’t mature enough to vote.
Teens making their case on Beacon Hill on Wednesday might want to focus less on the glad-handing pols, and more on the registered voters in their own houses.