Like many conservatives, David Sharyan said he’s worried about inflation, the economy and the southern border. But, he said, he’s also annoyed that he can’t do anything about those issues at the ballot box.
“I get taxed,” Mr. Sharyan said. “But I don’t get a voice in my representation.”
There is, mind you, a reason for that. Mr. Sharyan is 17, a rising high school senior who lives outside Portland, Ore., and works as a host at a Mexican restaurant, where he — yes — pays taxes on his income.
He’s also the chairman of the High School Republican National Federation and a proponent of lowering the voting age — an idea that is gaining new attention since the British government announced its intention last month to allow 16- and 17- year-olds to vote.
While such a nationwide change seems unlikely in the United States, where any alteration to the voting age would require a constitutional amendment, more than a dozen cities have opened the door to young voters in some elections, with momentum seemingly growing.
In November, voters in Albany, Calif., overwhelmingly passed a measure lowering the voting age to 16 for local and school district elections; two months later, lawmakers in Newark, N.J., passed legislation allowing 16- and 17-year-olds to vote in school board elections. College Park, Md., approved younger voting in April. Some states also already allow 17-year-olds to vote in primaries or caucuses if they will turn 18 by the general election in November.
LaJuan Allen, 29, the director of Vote16USA, an advocacy group that seeks to lower the voting age to 16, said the movement drew wide support from those who are already tantalizingly close to casting their first ballots.
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The post They Are 16 and 17 Years Old, and They Want to Vote. Like, Now. appeared first on New York Times.
