This month’s primary election is over, but students at Albany High School are already organizing for a next big battle: lowering the voting age from 18 to 16 in their city’s school board and City Council elections.
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“The whole point of democracy is that everyone should have their voices heard on matters that affect their daily lives,” says senior Alex Li, who is headed to Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., next year to study public policy. “For young people these are urgent issues — like climate change, for which our generation ultimately will have to pay the price. The minute scientists knew that fossil fuels were to blame, something should have happened, but it didn’t. So we would like the vote now.”
The students make a good case that if anything, 16-year-olds are better prepared to vote intelligently today than 18-year-olds were when the voting age was lowered to that age in 1971.
“Cognitive research makes a distinction between cold cognition and hot cognition,” explains Alex. “Cold cognition is a decision made after a deliberative process, and it develops early, by the age of 16.
“Hot cognition is a decision made under the influence of high emotions and peer pressure, and it doesn’t develop until later. We chose this number very particularly. That’s what we do these days — we get together and think this through very carefully.”
Albany High sophomore Nirvaan Jaswal agrees.
“Sixteen-year-olds generally have a home to go to, and they don’t have a tumultuous life situation,” he says. “Eighteen-year-olds, by contrast, are usually going off to a job or to college, which brings with it entirely different problems, such as registering to vote in a new location, requesting an absentee ballot, paying taxes, living on your own for the first time and other financial dealings that are required for an adult citizen.
“Meanwhile, 16-year-olds in Albany are taking required U.S. history classes, where they learn about the historical context and the political and economic issues that are before the voters during elections. And 17-year-olds are taking required U.S. government classes, where they learn about the structure of government and the offices that they are voting on. And that’s our essential pitch.”
Alex, who serves on the city’s police commission, elaborated.
“The city of Albany already has a strong commitment to including young people in government,” she says. “For example, many of the city committees and commissions, such as climate action, arts, recreation and racial justice, have student members with full voting rights.
“So we have a situation where high-school-age students are engaged in government, actively working to make this city a better place, and yet none of us have the right to elect our City Council or school board.”
Their effort started in December, when Nirvaan was discussing Albany politics with the school librarian, Ms. Hickey.
“Then the topic of lowering the voting age to 16 here came up, and I thought that was logical, following in the steps of the movement to give 18-year-olds the right to vote,” he says. “So I reached out to everyone I thought would be interested in achieving this goal.”
Alex further explains the process.
“Nirvaan approached me during a League of Women Voters Youth Council meeting and told me about a group of people who were in favor of lowering the voting age.
“I was already interested in the idea and, having worked with a lot of students as co-president of the Youth Council (including underclassmen) I knew that there were students who were incredibly sharp and knowledgeable about local issues. Their input would be extremely valuable to the city, so allowing them to vote was logical.”
Make no mistake: This is not only an Albany issue. Berkeley agreed to lower the voting age for school board races in 2016, and Oakland followed suit in 2020. Five cities in Maryland have lowered the voting age to 16, and so have several countries, including Brazil, Argentina, Austria, Cuba and Nicaragua.
Last week the Albany Teachers Association — “the people who are most familiar with high-school-age kids and what we’re capable of,” says Nirvaan — gave the proposal its unanimous support, and the students are submitting it this week to the City Council, who are scheduled to vote on it March 26. If they give the thumbs-up, the proposal will go on this November’s ballot for the voters to decide.
“That’s when all the canvassing happens,” says Alex. “I’m excited!”
And if all goes well, what next?
“We want it to go nationwide,” she says. “This has to be a foothold for change to happen.”
Martin Snapp can be reached at catman442@comcast.net.