‘Vote 16 Summit’ In Newark Gets Support From Murphy, McIver, Baraka

NEWARK, NJ — Should 16-year-olds be allowed to vote in a local school board election in New Jersey? If it were up to the state’s governor and newest Congress member, the answer would be a resounding “yes,” they say.

Last weekend, Gov. Phil Murphy and U.S. Rep. LaMonica McIver (NJ-10) appeared at a “Vote 16 Youth Summit” held at Rutgers University in Newark. The event also saw support from Mayor Ras Baraka, who is running for New Jersey governor in 2025.

Saturday’s event at Rutgers was held as part of an ongoing campaign to lower the voting age to 16 for school board elections in New Jersey – a proposal that has seen both enthusiastic support and vocal criticism.

Critics claim that 16 and 17-year-olds don’t have the ability and motivation to participate effectively in the electoral process. They also say that lowering the voting age would put young people at risk of becoming political pawns.

Meanwhile, supporters of lowering the voting age have challenged the assumption that 16-year-olds are too immature to be trusted with an enormous responsibility like voting. Some have pointed to the 26th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which lowered the voting age to 18 in 1971. See Related: NJ Should Lower Its Voting Age To 16 – Here’s Why, Advocates Say

A proposed state law that would lower the voting age for school elections, S-3240/A-4369, has been introduced in both chambers of the Legislature, where it awaits further review.

The New Jersey Institute For Social Justice, a nonprofit based in Newark, pointed out that the city recently became the first municipality in New Jersey – and the second largest city in the country – to lower the voting age to 16 for school board elections. See Related: Newark First In NJ To Lower Voting Age To 16 For School Elections

Voter registration for young people will begin on Feb. 1, 2025 for Newark's April School Board election.

Both Murphy and McIver – who sponsored Newark’s voting age law when she served as city council president – said they were “proud” to lend their support to last weekend’s event.

“Every young student deserves the right to shape their own future,” Murphy said.

McIver recently wrote that Newark’s law “enfranchised” 7,000 new voters, bringing youth in the city to the decision-making table on policies that directly impact them.

“The state is doing its part, too,” the congresswoman added. “Thanks to a new law Governor Phil Murphy signed earlier in the year, beginning in 2026, a 17-year-old in New Jersey will be eligible to vote in primary elections as long as the person turns 18 years of age on or before the next general election. With these new local and state voter laws on the books, it’s our job to ensure that these newly-empowered young people show up and flex their muscles by exercising their right to vote.”

Newark isn’t the only place in New Jersey that has seen debate over lowering the state’s voting age. Earlier this month, Murphy visited Hoboken High School to pitch the idea, and a group of East Brunswick teens recently petitioned the town council to lower the voting age in school board elections.

• See Related: Should 16-Year-Olds Vote? Gov. Murphy Discusses Issue In Hoboken
• See Related: 16-Year-Olds Want The Right To Vote In East Brunswick BOE Elections

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