RUBIN-STANKIEWICZ: New Jersey must lower voting age to 16 for school board elections
Column: Rutgers Realities
Having the right to vote is critical because policymakers are more likely to listen to a group with electoral power.
In New Jersey, citizens 18 years old and younger, non-U.S. citizens and currently incarcerated people do not have the right to vote, making politicians substantially less likely to recognize their autonomy and build policies and institutions responsive to their concerns and experiences.
But there is a movement in New Jersey, led by youth-run organizations like Vote16NJ and Vote@16, to expand the franchise to allow 16- and 17-year-olds to vote for their school board members.
On Monday, Sen. Brian Stack (D-N.J.) introduced S4173, a bill that would allow 16- and 17-year-olds to vote in their local school board elections.
Additionally, in late September, the Jersey City Board of Education adopted a resolution expressing their support for Vote@16's efforts to lower the voting age to 16 years old for school board elections.
There is a powerful case to be made for lowering the voting age to 16 years old, especially in school board elections.
School boards make decisions that most directly impact the lives of students, but only a small percentage of the junior and senior classes have any say over who serves on their school board.
This has been exemplified by multiple school districts in New Jersey that passed policies that require school staff to notify parents if a student moves to change their gender identity at school, thus forcibly outing trans and nonbinary students to their parents. This presents a direct violation of students' autonomy and risks their safety.
New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin sued the districts that adopted these policies, and a judge blocked three school districts from being able to enforce mandatory parental notification policies this summer until the court case is resolved.
Other districts have repealed policies this fall that require school districts to accept and respect students' gender identities in school without parental consent and notification.
This speaks to how much power school boards have over the lives, education and safety of students in the K-12 school system, while most students cannot even hold their school board members accountable at the ballot box.
High school students typically appoint one or two student representatives, usually seniors, who attend and speak at board meetings. While this is an important position that ensures the board hears some student perspectives, student representatives are non-voting members of school boards.
Lowering the voting age also presents an opportunity to potentially increase voter turnout.
Voting is a habit. Starting to vote from a young age allows for the development of this habit earlier in life, which is associated with higher rates of continued voting in the future.
In many ways, 16 years old is a better age to start voting to encourage it as a lifelong habit. Age 18 tends to be a year of transition to college, jobs or other opportunities. Some 18-year-olds may move across voting district and state lines for these reasons, disrupting their voting habit and requiring them to learn the registration process and deadlines for their new state or county.
If 16- and 17-year-olds can vote in school board elections, this also puts pressure on high schools to teach about the elections and the candidates running.
One of the largest arguments against a younger voting age is that 16- and 17-year-olds are not considered "mature" enough to vote. While this argument is problematic in that it frames voting as something to be "earned," rather than an inherent right and tool to hold government officials accountable, it is also inaccurate.
The part of the brain that is not developed in a 16-year-old pertains to hot cognition, regulating impulsive decisions. Studies show that voting requires the usage of one's cold cognition, a thinking process that is linked to thoughtful, significant decisions, which is fully developed at the age of 16.
Across the country, teens have repeatedly proved their civic dedication by protesting and volunteering in their communities. These teens also contribute to our society by participating in the workforce, some supplying income taxes to our government without the ability to influence what those taxes are used toward.
In many states, people aged 18 and younger can be tried as adults through the criminal justice system.
Issues like K-12 education policy, climate change, long-term government debt, gun violence and poverty all significantly affect those who are aged 18 and younger. Young people will have to live with the consequences of governmental policies for the longest time.
We must urge the New Jersey legislature to pass S4173 and to take the voices of 16- and 17-year-olds seriously.
Young people are not just the future: We are the present, and we refuse to wait for the change we need.
Raisa Rubin-Stankiewicz is a senior in the School of Arts and Sciences majoring in political science and minoring in psychology. Her column, "Rutgers Realities," runs on alternate Thursdays.
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