Credit: (Hannah Gross/NJ Spotlight News)Sixteen- and 17-year-olds will soon be able to vote in school board elections in Newark, giving them more say over what happens in their schools.
Newark City Council voted unanimously to approve the ordinance Wednesday, enfranchising more than 7,000 new voters, 90% of them Black and brown. Newark is the largest city in the country to take such a step.
The move is part of a recent push to expand voting rights to young people in New Jersey. Gov. Phil Murphy expressed support for allowing 16- and 17-year-olds to vote in school board elections across the state during his State of the State address Tuesday. In Newark, students, advocates and councilmembers said they hope the state’s largest city is the first of many to let more students vote in local elections.
“This a good opportunity for young people to begin to get engaged politically, to be a real voting bloc in an election that affects them directly,” said Newark Mayor Ras Baraka.
These voters are expected to cast their first ballots in Newark’s April school board election. Council President LaMonica McIver said the groups involved in the effort to lower the voting age plan to work with Newark Public Schools on voter education efforts, including workshops for students and parents.
Lesson in civics
Supporters and opponents of the move called for better civics education for Newark students. Science Park High School juniors Breanna Campbell and Nathaniel Esubonteng said they have not learned much about civics in school.
Credit: (Hannah Gross/NJ Spotlight News)They testified in support of lowering the voting age, to make sure all of their classmates have a voice in matters that directly affect them. Campbell said she is eager to have a say on curriculum, while Esubonteng named school violence as a top issue.
Newark school board races have had low participation in recent years, with just 3% of registered voters turning out in 2023.
Baraka said this means candidates will need to truly engage with student voters to get elected to the school board. The New Jersey Institute for Social Justice estimates 7,257 teenagers will now become eligible to vote, which is greater than the total number of voters who participated in the last school board election.
Leading the way
“It is so exciting that Newark students now have the opportunity to be the change in the midst of low turnout rates and low engagement. It is relieving that the voices of underrepresented students in the city will finally be valued,” said Anjali Krishnamurti, co-founder of Vote16NJ, one of the group’s leading the effort to lower the voting age.
Krishnamurti and Yenjay Hu founded Vote16NJ as high school students to lower the voting age in local elections across the state. Hu, now a senior at Westfield High School, said this step will help young people create a habit of voting for the rest of their lives.
Hu said it’s easier for people to start voting at 16 when they are surrounded by family, teachers and other mentors to help guide them. At 18, when more people are no longer living at home, it can be more difficult to register and vote, he said.
Murphy commended Hu and Krishnamurti in his State of the State address Tuesday for their work with Vote16NJ. He said the students inspired his proposal to lower the voting age to 16 in school board elections across the state.
“I know, to some, this proposal may sound unconventional. But voting is a lifelong habit. And studies show that if a person votes in one election, they are more likely to turn out in the next election,” Murphy said in his speech.
New state law
The state has already taken other steps to enfranchise young voters. Murphy recently signed legislation that will allow 17-year-olds to vote in primary elections if they will be 18 by the general election. The measure will go into effect in 2026.
‘New Jersey youth are immensely powerful, and we will not stop fighting until all our voices are recognized on the ballot.’ — Anjali Krishnamurti, co-founder of Vote16NJ
New Jersey voters can already register at 17 but they can’t vote until their 18th birthday. According to a report from the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice, the state Constitution grants an affirmative right to vote to people ages 18 and older but is silent on younger people voting.
This means other municipalities can join Newark without statewide legislation, the report says.
Other steps to enfranchise young voters are happening across the country. Newark joins several cities in Maryland and California that have already opened voting to 16- and 17-year-olds in school board elections.
“For the rest of New Jersey, I hope they can take away one thing from the passage of this ordinance. And that is that New Jersey youth are immensely powerful, and we will not stop fighting until all our voices are recognized on the ballot,” said Krishnamurti of Vote16NJ.
