Golden May Lower Voting Age to 16

GOLDEN, CO – Voters in Golden will decide on the November ballot whether or not high-school age students should be given the vote in municipal and local elections.

The Golden City Council approved a measure in August to put lowering the voting age to 16 for local elections on the ballot. The city hopes to be the first municipality in Colorado to expand the vote to younger people. The city cites the community of Takoma Park, Maryland (population 18,000) lowered the voting age to 16 in local elections in 2013.

“It’s an excellent opportunity for kids to become involved in the democratic process,” Golden High School Principal Brian Conroy told the Denver Post. “If we can help kids take part in the voting process, and understand the process, they’re going to do it.”

"Any time we can engage our youth in our community is beneficial for all parties involved," said Golden High School graduate Emmy Adams, who helped organize a JeffCo demonstration for National School Walkout Day in March. "[Lowering the voting age] allows students to feel like their voice matters and because of a city election many of the things implemented are things that directly impact students in the Golden community such as issues like sustainability and parks and recreation. It also provides an opportunity for students to begin their voting journey, to have an election they can vote in that is one smaller than the huge presidential one which is many people’s first time voting, by having them vote in a smaller and more locally based election it gets them familiar with the voting process," she said.

“Extending voting rights to 16- and 17-year-olds on the local level can increase voter turnout and strengthen our democracy in the long run, as voting is habitual and statistics show that age 16 is a better time than 18 to acquire the habit of voting," says Vote16USA the website of a national group that encourages lowering the voting age nationally.

City council members said they wanted to increase the local voting participation of voters in the 18-25 age group. Students at Colorado School of Mines often do not participate in local elections, the city council members said.

Watch the discussion by the city council members here.

Read more in the Denver Post.

Image via Shutterstock

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