Teens Rally to Promote Proposal for Youth Vote

Brandishing signs declaring that "Students Know Schools" and "Honk For 17-year-old Vote," local teenagers rallied at the Downtown Berkeley BART station Tuesday in support of extending voting rights to 17-year-old Berkeley residents.

More than a half dozen members of the Berkeley High School chapter of the National Youth Rights Association demonstrated on Shattuck Avenue at 1 p.m. in an effort to galvanize public support for suffrage for 17-year-old voters in local school board elections.

The rally marked a tactical shift from earlier efforts by the association, which previously asked for blanket voting rights for 16 and 17 year olds in local elections.

At a Berkeley City Council meeting on May 24, the group lobbied the council to pass a resolution declaring the city's support for future state legislation that would allow individual California communities to choose the minimum age-which could drop to as young as 15-required to vote in local elections.

According to the proposal, any person meeting the minimum age requirement would be eligible to vote for City Council and school board members, bond measures, and any other local issues. The council members' vote on the proposal fell one short of the five needed to pass.

Despite the loss, the students bounced back for Tuesday's gathering, focusing on expanding suffrage to only 17-year-old voters and only in school board elections.

"We're trying to take it in a little bit of a different direction, trying to achieve a little bit of a smaller step," said Chris Howell, a member of the association.

Berkeley's youth should have a vested interest in their schools and be a part of the decision-making process that directly affects them, said Robert Reynolds, founder of the association's Berkeley chapter and vice president of the national organization.

"The shortage of education funding is proof they're not being represented the way they should be," Reynolds, 18, said. "That constituency is voiceless and unrepresented."

The group's renewed effort after being rebuffed by the council shows political savvy and genuine concern over the issue, said City Councilmember Kriss Worthington, a supporter of the teens' proposal.

"They didn't get what they wanted the first time, but they didn't go home and cry," Worthington said. "They've come back with a creative compromise that addresses the concerns of others."

Critics have said that teenagers are too immature or lack the knowledge to make a wise and informed decision in the political arena. The association hopes to break the stereotype by demonstrating their commitment to the issue.

"If you want an informed electorate, a 17-year-old knows more about the schools than the average person," Worthington said. "Seventeen-year-olds know a lot about what's going on in schools. They are there every day."

Reynolds also said that younger voters are as knowledgeable about education-related issues as their voting-age counterparts, citing what he said was the immaturity of many of his 18-year-old peers.

"Intelligence and maturity are not prerequisites for voting. Sixteen and 17-year-olds are competent enough to make the decisions that affect their lives," Reynolds said. "Responsibility comes with rights, not the other way around."

Councilmember Gordon Wozniak reaffirmed his opposition to lowering the voting age in local elections despite the changes to the proposal made by the association.

"You would still have one class of voters-now 17-year-olds-with different amounts of rights than other voters," Wozniak said. "Otherwise, you're essentially making them a second-class voter."

The association's new proposal also presents the same funding problems that the old one did, said Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates who abstained from voting in May.

The city would still need to provide separate ballots and voter rosters, and conduct separate registration, services which are currently financed by Alameda County, Bates said.

"The cost would be prohibitive, especially when we just cut $20 million from our budget," Bates said.

However, Bates affirmed that he would support efforts to lower the voting age if they were conducted at a higher level.

"If the state legislature would do it, that would be great because it'd go through Alameda County," Bates said. "I'd support it in a heartbeat."

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