| Local Heroes |
photo by Michael Manning |
Campaign for a Democratic Future
JESSE BAER HAS a dream. When this Cambridge high-school senior fantasizes about his future, he sees colleges,
careers, and cars. But ideals shape his goals as well. He wants to make the world a better place. And he
doesn't plan to wait till the legal age of adulthood - 18, when he can cast a ballot - to get started.
"I see too many disinterested people," he says. Ever since his father lugged seven-year-old Jesse into the
voting booth, Baer has delighted in all things electoral. And he reckons he's got the answer to today's
sagging election rolls: "If high-school students voted, young people would get involved.... We could impact
voter turnout."
In this city affectionately known as the People's Republic, Baer and dozens of high-school students in the
Campaign for a Democratic Future have sparked a revolution. For months, they have argued for lowering the
voting age to 16 in municipal elections. They've built a movement from scratch, inspiring as many as 300
teenagers at the public Cambridge Rindge and Latin School to push a proposal that would give them more
political clout than young people have anywhere in the United States.
Last June, they carried their initiative straight to Cambridge City Hall, where nearly 100 teens, sporting
buttons that read EXPAND DEMOCRACY and WE ARE YOUR CONSTITUENTS, TOO, overwhelmed die-hard council-meeting
attendees. For two hours, they voiced support for lowering the voting age. But the city council, in a 6-3
vote, rejected the proposal in the rather uninspired belief that 18 should remain the age of adulthood.
The teens remain undaunted. Last October, they endorsed a slate of youth-friendly candidates for city
council. Five of their endorsees - who have pledged to pass the initiative - were elected this month. As
soon as the new council convenes in January, the teens will press forward.
The movement has come a long way. Last fall, Baer and five other members of Youth Action Coalition, which
bills itself as "young people dedicated to raising the power and civic involvement of their peers," sat in
the cafeteria at Cambridge Rindge and Latin School. They were casting about for a liberal issue to champion.
Clean elections had gotten nixed. It seemed too huge, too esoteric. So did hip causes like sweatshop labor
and globalization.
"Someone suggested the voting age," Baer recalls. The idea prompted a collective "why not?" Teens grow up
fast. By the time they reach sweet 16, they can drive a car, have sex, drop out of school. In Massachusetts,
teens as young as 14 can be sentenced to life in prison. Yet youth have no incentive to care about local
affairs because they lack political representation. Allowing them to cast a ballot would connect them to
Cambridge and give them a say in policies that affect them most, such as education reform or youth curfews.
Word soon spread through Rindge and Latin. The five interested students grew to 10, 20, then 40. The effort
has attracted youth like Paul Heintz, 17, a baby-faced senior who aspires to win the US presidency before
his 40th birthday. It's also lured kids with no such designs. Noah Minkle Chevalier, a 16-year-old junior
with a peach-fuzz beard, joined the fight to show adults that teens care about more than sex, drugs, and
rock 'n' roll.
Youthful enthusiasm has proven infectious. Parents have embraced the initiative, circulating petitions and
driving their children to meetings. Some city councilors have backed the proposal in the belief that no
teen smart enough to orchestrate a voting-rights campaign should be denied the franchise. Says City
Councilor Jim Braude, their staunchest supporter, "The only risk is that they would vote so enthusiastically
they'd embarrass adults."
Cambridge teens have gained respect by demanding it. They've taken their biggest disadvantage - the
inability to vote - and turned it around. Even if they prevail here, their voting-age initiative must be
approved by the state legislature before taking effect.
But for now, these teens have a dream. As Heintz puts it, "We've found we can be as influential as any
voting adult. We can do this."
- Kristen Lombardi
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