On May 24, the ballot-casting dreams of teenager Robert Reynolds and a coalition of under-18 teens were once again put on hold.

For the young Californians, it was the second time in a year that adult politicians had torpedoed their chances of winning the right to vote before the age of 18.

First, in May 2004, former California State Senator John Vasconcellos (D-San Jose) abandoned his proposal to lower the voting age in the state. Vasconcellos found that many of his colleagues viewed it as too complicated and costly, and saw few benefits to supporting it.

Then, Reynolds—a local chapter president of the National Youth Rights Association—focused on a smaller scale: the liberal-leaning community of Berkeley. The group drafted a proposal for consideration by the Berkeley City Council laying out a process for city residents to vote on whether to give 16- and 17-year-olds the right to participate in local elections. They quickly garnered the support of three of the nine council members: Kriss Worthington (D), Max Anderson (D), and Darryl Moore (D).

Reynolds was confident in the days leading up to the May 24 council vote. He was especially buoyed when the Youth Commission of Berkeley, a group of 12- to 25-year-olds that provides input on youth programs in the city, voted overwhelmingly to express support.

"The city council has a great chance of passing this proposal," Reynolds said just days before the vote. "We already have 3 co-sponsors—plus the mayor said he'd co-sponsor it if the youth commission passed it."

Counting on that vote from Mayor Tom Bates (D), members of the National Youth Rights Association of Berkeley believed they needed only one more vote for success. They lobbied each remaining member of the council with all of the arguments in their arsenal.

A Rising Pitch

The arguments in favor of under-18 voting are wide-ranging:

Reynolds notes that most high school students hold part-time jobs. "They pay taxes, but have no say in where their tax dollars go," he laments.

Rio Bauce, a 15-year-old member of the Berkeley coalition, says that youth are particularly affected by issues like education and the environment, but have no power to elect the leaders who address these concerns. "They aren't accurately being represented in a county where they are the biggest demographic group," says Bauce.

Reynolds argues that youth have the knowledge to vote, since most have taken courses in history, government, law or economics. And many, like himself, are active readers of the newspaper and participate more in civic matters than many adults.

Habit-Forming

Carrie Donovan, the youth director with the nonpartisan Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE), notes that when young people in their late teens and twenties vote in an election, the action substantially increases the likelihood they will vote in future elections. In fact, having voted in one election is a better predictor of future voting than either age or education, both of which are highly correlated with voting.

"[G]etting people hooked on voting early can increase the likelihood that they'll remain voters later on," says Donovan. "This could have implications for lowering the voting age simply because it's easiest to do voter education and registration through high schools—and high school is the last time eligible voters are all in one place."

"It becomes a lot harder to register first-time voters and expose them to the process of what's involved when they aren't affiliated with some kind of institution—a school, a church, or a community group," adds Donovan.

The Maturity Debate

Some adults question whether youth under 18 are mature enough to vote for politicians and on complex issues. Similar questions were asked during the Vietnam War era when youth protesters were successful at getting the voting age lowered nationally from 21 to 18 via the 26th Amendment.

Said Councilmember Laurie Capitelli (D) during the May 24 Berkeley meeting, "What convinces me more than anything else that I'm not ready to support this motion is my own memory of myself as a 16-year-old."

"This is such a fine group of kids," added Betty Olds (D), referring the numerous teens attending the meeting. "I wish they could vote and forget about the others..."

"Some adults project their insecurity about their own lack of knowledge about the issues onto teenagers," counters Reynolds. "They figure if they are not informed enough, how could teens be? But the truth is that teens are in school, learning the issues and discussing politics and history daily."

"Sixteen-year-olds are absolutely mature enough and informed enough about the issues to cast a ballot," he says. "Just because some teens aren't, doesn't mean we should forget about the ones who are—and there are many."

Bauce looks at the situation this way: "Well, how I think of it is that the voter registration process separates the ready-to-vote from the not-ready-to-vote people. The people who are immature, not ready to vote, et cetera, won't bother registering for voting or showing up to the polls and voting. People who are informed and ready to vote will register to vote and be active members of society."

Asks Bauce, "There are always going to be youth who don't care about voting, but aren't there adults who don't care about voting who are allowed the vote?"

Brain Development

In recent debates over teen driving, research indicating that the decision-making center of the brain doesn't mature until the mid-20's has been gaining attention from legislators as an argument for more restrictions on young drivers. Does the same reasoning apply to lowering the voting age?

Not according to Constance A. Flanagan, an expert in adolescent civic and political development at Pennsylvania State University.

Now we know that the frontal lobes of adolescents may not be fully developed and their judgment may not be as mature as it will be when they are older, explains Flanagan. "But this has next to nothing to do with their ability to assess different perspectives on political issues, see competing claims, understand others' points of view, see the connection between what a particular candidate stands for and how the people in their local community or some other interest group would fare if that candidate is elected."

Flanagan says it's important to understand the basis on which adults of any age vote. "For mature adults, there is not necessarily an intelligent or informed basis for their vote. Emotions and passions are at least as important as facts as a basis for mature adults' voting patterns."

"The problem is that being young is too often a reason for dismissing the contributions and ideas of people. This is due to an overwhelming stereotype that the public holds about 'youth'—that they're self-serving, subject to hormones, and need to be kept under wraps till they exit adolescence," continues Flanagan.

Donovan notes that another common argument against giving 16- and 17-year-olds the right to vote is that they know less, and so will make less informed decisions than voters in their twenties.

However, in a recent CIRCLE study, 15- to 17-year-olds performed better than 24- to 25-year-olds on a variety of political questions. One question asked which party had the most members in the House of Representatives. Thirty-seven percent of 15- to 17-year-olds got the question correct, while 28 percent of 24- to 25-year-olds got it right.

International Comparisons

Donavan says that many countries have explored the pros and cons of under-18 voting, and have come to the conclusion that it is beneficial for both youth and society at large.

When Hanover, Germany recently lowered its voting age to 16, turnout among 16- and 17-year-olds (56 percent) exceeded turnout by 18- to 25-year-olds (49 percent). Nationwide, 16- and 17-year-old Germans are currently allowed to vote in regional or municipal elections, though not national ones.

Australia has been considering adopting a model like that of Germany. Meanwhile, the governments of the United Kingdom and Canada are considering similar plans. Iran allows those 15 and older to vote in all elections.

The Missing Vote

Going into the May 24 Berkeley commission meeting, with the youth voting proposal coming up just over two hours into the session, Reynolds was excited. He and his teenage coalition were convinced they'd lined up the votes they needed, even with comments like those from council members Olds and Capitelli.

But in the end, all the arguments from the teens couldn't convince a majority of the commission. Councilmember Olds, as well as Gordon Wozniak (D) voted "no," while Capitelli and Linda Maio (D) abstained. In a shock to the teens who had lobbied him, Mayor Bates also abstained, despite his earlier signals that he would vote in favor of the proposal.

It didn't take long for Reynolds and his team to plan their next steps. Their chapter of the National Youth Rights Association plans on writing a new proposal for the Berkeley City Council to consider that would allow 17-year-olds to vote in local school board elections and in upcoming city elections. And they are keeping close ties to supporters on the council.

Bauce has also led an effort to collect hundreds of signatures urging California Senate Majority Leader Don Perata (D) to revive a statewide lower voting age bill.

Also this week: Youth Voting's Partisan Stripes

Rob Capriccioso is a staff writer for Connect for Kids.