New Jersey city council gives 16 and 17-year-olds right to vote in school board elections

A New Jersey city will now be permitting 16 and 17-year-olds the possibility to use their voice in school board elections. 

A city council vote was unanimously authorised by Newark City Council on Wednesday permitting 16 and 17-year-olds to vote in upcoming school board elections.

Newark Mayor Ras J. Baraka mentioned that he supported the ordinance, saying that “democracy is stronger when more people participate.”

“I’m very proud to see Newark take the lead on this issue,” Baraka mentioned in a press launch. “Democracy is stronger when more people participate, and bringing younger people into the fold, who have so much at stake, is a great idea. Our elections will be energized, and our school boards will benefit.”

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More than 200 school boards have joined a lawsuit arguing that social media platforms have led to an unprecedented youth mental-health disaster. (Brittany Murray/MediaNews Group/Long Beach Press-Telegram by way of Getty Images)

Newark mayor Ras Baraka joins residents in the disclosing of a brand new Harriet Tubman memorial, March 9, 2023 in downtown Newark, New Jersey. (Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis by way of Getty Images)

Newark is now the most important municipality in the U.S to develop voting rights to younger folks since 1971, when the nationwide voting age was lowered to 18.

The enlargement in voting rights will influence over 7,000 16 and 17-year-old teenagers in the state’s largest city.

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“From the suppression of learning the truth about race and racism, to gun safety and more, our 16- and 17-year-olds have never been more directly affected by school board policies, yet they have no meaningful say in who makes them,” Ryan Haygood, President & CEO of the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice, said in a press release. 

“They soon will. This historic ordinance will empower more than 7,000 16- and 17-year-olds, 90% of whom are Black and Brown, to speak for themselves at the ballot box,” Haygood said.

Voters cast their ballots at poling locations in Newark on Election Day on November 2, 2021. (Reuters)

The move to allow the teens to vote in school board elections comes after Newark’s final school board election when solely 3% of eligible contributors turned out to vote.

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“This ordinance is good for our young people, good for Newark and good for New Jersey,” mentioned Newark City Council President LaMonica McIver, a sponsor of the ordinance. “I’m grateful to  Mayor Barakaand [the] council for joining me to champion this important ordinance and look forward to its passage.”