Legislature will consider voting rights for 17-year-olds
SACRAMENTO — Teenagers could soon be able to vote in Santa Monica.
A bill proposing to change the state constitution to allow 17-year-olds who will turn 18 by the general election to vote in primaries will be heard today by the Assembly Elections Committee. Sen. Sheila Kuehl, a Democrat who hails from Santa Monica, is on that committee.
The bill, known as ACA 25, was introduced in February by Assemblyman Gene Mullin (D-San Mateo).
“Voter registration and turnout among young adults has been abysmal in California,” Mullin said. “For most young adults, their first contact with the political process is in high school through the mandated government classes during their senior year or through volunteering for campaigns for community service credit.
“This is the time to give them ownership in the process by getting them to vote in primaries while they still have a connection to their school and community,” he added.
Under current California law, 17-year-olds must turn 18 by the first week in March, denying hundreds of thousands of students the power to pick the nominees who will appear on the November ballot.
“Currently, we miss the opportunity to introduce young voters to the ballot box while still in their local high school,” said Santa Monica City Councilman Kevin McKeown. “Enfranchising 17-year-olds in primaries will encourage a lifelong commitment to being part of the electoral process.”
McKeown also said that the primary happens senior year for most high school-ers. And, if they are given a stake in the process when they still have ties to their home communities — before they go to college or leave looking for work — they are more likely to be regular voters.
In the 11 other states — Arizona, Delaware, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, Nebraska, North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia and West Virginia — which have approved similar changes, there has been an increase in young people turning out to the polls, officials said. In 2000, the turnout for voters between 18 and 24 years old in California was below 48 percent, but was 60 percent in Virginia. McKeown, who is a member of the Green Party, introduced the bill for his party’s support and recently gave an endorsement.
“I work at (Santa Monica High School), Olympic and Malibu High and I see some really inspiring kids,” he said. “They never get to vote in Santa Monica because they go off to college or start their careers.”
McKeown added that when the Santa Monica City Council in February of 2003 debated whether or not to pass a resolution opposing the war in Iraq, several high school students who testified at the hearing were able to sway at least one council member’s vote in favor of it.
The sponsor of the bill, Secretary of State Kevin Shelley, agrees young voters deserve to be recognized.
“Currently, a person who is 17 years of age is eligible to work at a polling place as an election worker and to serve our nation in the armed forces,” he said. “ACA 25 acknowledges that if a person is old enough to work at the polls on Election Day or protect our national interests abroad he or she should be old enough to cast a ballot.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on April 20, 2004. Read the original PDF.