The League of Women Voters of Maryland supports the efforts of this legislation to increase the participation of young Maryland citizens in the electoral process.
A 2006 decision of the Court of Appeals called into question a long standing practice in Maryland of allowing 17-year olds who would be 18 years old by the date of the next General Election to vote in a preceding Primary election. Subsequent conflicting opinions by the office of the Attorney General resulted in confusion as to which young voters can vote and for what offices. Although the issue has been settled for the time being by the Court of Appeals, a Constitutional amendment clarifying the rights of these young voters would offer certainty to young voters, and those whose goal is to register these voters and engage them in participating in our democracy.
It is the core mission of the League of Women Voters to educate voters and to engage and encourage involvement in our democracy. Our roots were grounded in efforts to enfranchise and educate both African American and women voters. Engaging and educating first time voters are a natural extension of our mission, and voting is the highest form of democratic engagement.
Voting in a party primary election allows these first time voters the opportunity to participate in the selection of candidates who will appear on the General election ballot. It is logical to allow them this opportunity. However, these young voters, some of whom are just dipping their toes into political waters, should not be required to affiliate with a political party in order to cast a ballot in non-partisan elections, because first time voters over the age of 18 are not denied this opportunity.
The League of Women Voters can only take a position on issues that have been studied by the League and on which member-consensus has been reached. We have no position relating to allowing 16-year olds to register to vote. However, we note that the United States is one of the few democracies in the world in which registration to vote is solely a responsibility of the citizen; most other developed countries consider it a responsibility of the government to engage its citizens in elections and make it a priority to assure the registration of their citizens to vote. Indeed, governments registering people has been shown to be one of the most powerful predictors of high voting turnout levels. We predict that allowing 16 year olds the opportunity to register to vote would allow them the opportunity to do so at the time they apply for a drivers license, a government sponsored activity, would dramatically increase the number of young people eligible to vote in future elections. The League of Women Voters would continue it efforts to engage young people in voting, and through this education would be in a position to educate them about the age requirements for voting.
