Giving districts the option to lower the BOE voting age means students can get real-world civics experience to use once they live the nest of high school. School board elections are small-scale, local, and affect students more than anyone else.

Giving the decision to local boards of education means that there’s no mandate forced on school districts. Instead, these decisions can be discussed by the communities that are directly affected by them.

To learn more, read our About Us, and check out our bill memo in the Resources page.

BYLP is a nonpartisan movement with bipartisan support that doesn’t get involved in party politics. We want to increase youth engagement in politics, regardless of which side of the aisle they’re on.

Students, educators, parents, and taxpayers are welcome to get involved. To learn, go to the “Get Involved” section of our website or just hit the volunteer button on the top right!

Yes, several counties & cities in the US — including Oakland, CA and Newark, NJ — have lowered the voting age to 16 in certain elections. In particular, Takoma, MD lowered the municipal elections voting age. Their stats revealed that, in the 2013 election alone, 16- & 17-year-old turnout was quadruple adult turnout.

While municipals elections are absolutely not our focus, the implications of this massive increase in turnout remains constant.