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CAMBRIDGE
Teen suffrage

BY KRISTEN LOMBARDI

Last Thursday night, the government-operations committee of the Cambridge City Council approved an initiative that would lower the voting age in municipal elections to 16 (see “Uncertain Gains,” December 8, 2000 www.bostonphoenix.com/archives/2000/documents/00520827.htm) — thereby paving the way for the full council to vote on the motion as early as next Monday.

The voting-age initiative, which came before the council last November, would allow 16- and 17-year-old Cantabrigians to vote for local city-council and school-committee candidates. If it passes, the city affectionately known as the People’s Republic may become the first municipality in the United States to enfranchise residents under 18. Before the motion can take effect, however, the state legislature must approve it.

Supporters of the initiative say young people today have no incentive to care about municipal affairs because they lack political representation. Giving high-school teenagers the franchise would not only connect them to Cambridge, but get them in the habit of voting — and habits start young. Opponents, meanwhile, maintain that 16- and 17-year-olds are too immature to cast a ballot — though proponents point out that 16-year-olds can already drive, have sex, and drop out of school, and teens as young as 14 can be sentenced to life in prison.

Proponents came out in full force May 3, when the government-operations committee held a hearing on the initiative. Several dozen students, along with their adult allies, turned out to speak in favor. Only several people — all of them adults — testified in opposition. The committee ultimately agreed to send the motion to the council for a vote, which supporters see as a good sign.

“We got exactly what we wanted,” says Jesse Baer of the Campaign for a Democratic Future, which proposed the initiative, and which bills itself as a coalition of “youth dedicated to raising the power and civic involvement of their peers.” Now that the initiative has moved before the full council for debate, Baer adds, “I have high hopes. I think the council, overall, is leaning toward lowering the voting age.”

Maybe so. But the final council vote, expected either May 14 or 21, undoubtedly will be close. According to the Campaign for a Democratic Future, whose members have made personal appeals to almost every public official in town, only four councilors — Anthony Galluccio, Jim Braude, Henrietta Davis, and Kenneth Reeves — have voiced their support. The remaining five — Kathleen Born, Marjorie Decker, David Maher, Michael Sullivan, and Timothy Toomey — have said that they’re either undecided about the initiative or inclined to oppose it.

The Cambridge City Council will debate the voting-age initiative at its May 14 meeting at 5:30 p.m. in the second-floor chambers at Cambridge City Hall. Call City Hall at (617) 349-4280 to let the councilors know how you feel about the initiative. For a complete list of councilors with contact numbers, visit www.ci.cambridge.ma.us and click on the “City Council” icon.

Issue Date: May 10 - 17, 2001