Young Activist Pushes To Lower Voting Age To 16 As ‘The Next Logical Step’ For Gen Z

Enlarge this image


In an effort to boost civic engagement among younger voters, Tyler Okeke has been campaigning to lower the voting age to 16.





Courtesy of Power California



hide caption



toggle caption


Courtesy of Power California



America Reckons With Racial Injustice
Young Activists Pour Energy Into Protests, But What About The Election?



Elections
Will 2020 Be The Year Of The Young Voter?



Politics
Millennials Now Rival Boomers As A Political Force, But Will They Actually Vote?

The idea of lowering the voting age has drawn some support, largely from Democrats. Although the effort failed, Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., proposed an amendment to lower the national voting age to 16 in House Democrats’ voting overhaul bill last year.

Easing age limitations is on the California ballot this November. If passed, Proposition 18 would allow 17-year-olds, who will be 18 by the time of the following general election, to vote in primary and special elections. Eighteen states and Washington, D.C., already allow such pre-18 voter participation.

Some Republican critics cast the push as a tactic to strengthen the Democratic electorate, given that Gen Z-ers tend to be more liberal on social issues than previous generations.

And Americans of both major parties overwhelmingly oppose extending voting to 16 and 17-year-olds, according to a Hill-HarrisX poll. Opponents often argue that people at that age aren’t mature or don’t know enough to vote.

Okeke disagrees. Having grown up with the Internet, younger generations have greater access to information, well beyond the pages of a textbook, he says.

Armed with that information, youth are «getting frustrated with their lack of political power, Okeke says, after «exhausting the tools they do have, such as social media campaigning and protesting.

«When we look down the road, we don’t see a hopeful future. We don’t see a future where we’ll have access to clean water and clean air, and equitable schools, he says. «Voting is just the logical next step in making sure that a generation — that is so passionate about change and is so deeply affected by the decisions that are being made now — that we are inserted into policy-making and have a say in our democracy.

NPR’s Jonaki Mehta and Jolie Myers produced and edited the audio for this story.