“Let Us Vote”- A Movement to Lower the Voting Age to 16
More than 50 years ago, at the height of the Vietnam War, millions of young people who could not vote were nevertheless energized to become politically active and demand an end to the War as well as other issues involving social and economic justice.
As a result of the anti-war, civil rights, and environmental issues, many young people who were politically active even though they could not vote demanded a change of the voting age from 21 to 18. By 1971 they had succeeded in persuading Congress to pass an amendment to the Constitution to accomplish that change, and within a few months the 26th Amendment to the Constitution was ratified by the required number of states.
As political turmoil and reactionary backlash swept the nation after the election of Donald Trump in 2016, some progressive activists concluded that it would be beneficial to allow younger voters most impacted by the effects of reactionary policies in government to vote and have a say in democratic elections where they would be most vulnerable. As a result a movement started in the State of New Jersey to let 16 year olds vote in local elections, especially for school board candidates. Recently members of the City Council in Newark, the largest city in New Jersey, passed an ordinance supported by Mayor Ras Baraka that lowers the voting age to participate in…
