Barnum Hall outside of the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life. The private research institution, Tufts University, is looking for proposals on an upcoming conference for July.

Usually, I would post a monthly blog feature that is somehow connected with lowering the voting age. However, given that it is the annual no taxation without representation edition of the blog, Tax Day & an open possibility to collaborate with members of various networks supporting lowering the voting age, I’m going to make an exception this time.

So there’s an open call for presenters this summer for an event in Boston where those with new ideas can present and where I will be traveling to this summer as part of my travel tour of the U.S. to promote House Joint Resolution 23. The Frontiers of Democracy Conference will take place in July, however ideas are being accepted to provide a presentation during the conference. I am interested in forming a discussion panel with members of the Colloquium, but also allies of the Colloquium like youth organizations, climate activists and other youth suffragists, many of whom I already am in contact with. The deadline to submit an idea is on May 1^st.

The conference would be one of many important events I will be going to during the course of the summer, but possibly, one of the most important in terms of being able to collaborate on a joint effort with members of the Colloquium and other youth rights supporters.

Because of this, I would like to make an open call to members of the Colloquium who would like to participate on a panel to talk about House Joint Resolution 23. Unlike most events I will be involved in this summer, the advantage of this option is that even international members of the Colloquium can participate, as not all panelists need to be present- there is an option for co-panelists to present remotely. As long as one main organizer is present, all other panelists can participate no matter where in the world they are located, much like we already do t our regular Colloquium webinars. The panel can go up tp 90 minutes, so there is ample time for numerous organizations who support some form of expanding enfranchisement to provide information on their personal work, regardless where you’re located in the world. Rather than discussing the various degrees of enfranchisement amongst ourselves, we have an opportunity to all participate, though I would be willing to be one or more of the representatives to physically go there to present if our proposal idea is selected.

There are some limits & rules to submitting entries, however. I spoke with organizers of the event this past week, and they clarified that while a person can submit multiple entries if each entry is different from each other, i.e. I will talk about lowering the voting age to 16 in one entry, another entry will discuss climate change, and another entry will talk about the efforts of fellow Colloquium members to expand voting rights, I cannot submit an entry to form a Colloquium panel, then have several of us do the same thing to increase the chances of being picked. We can all submit ideas, but they have to be unique and original.

You can submit an entry where, as an example, a Colloquium member might want to form a panel and ask me to talk about my contributions towards youth suffrage. I could be a contributor to a climate panel, a civic panel, a proxy voting panel, etc., but each submission has to be unique, not copies of the same proposal with different people submitting the same idea, so if you’re versatile and can talk about many issues, you can contribute to any kind of panel, but you’ll likely only contribute to one panel on that day if one of our ideas is chosen. Although the panel would be suffrage in general, I could still contribute to other panels because lowering the voting age counts as expanding suffrage. Whether your idea is chosen or mine, the main theme of the conference is democracy, so if a panel is convened, it has align with that theme.

I think that if there is an idea among members of the Colloquium to do a Colloquium-focused event, I would be willing to be a panelist for that idea, but I think that someone else should form a separate entry for it because they would have the most experience for it. Because of my focus on my awareness efforts this summer, I would like to form a panel that looks at lowering the voting age to 16, particularly where House Joint Resolution 23 is concerned. I believe such a panel could benefit from us in a similar way that Next Up in Oregon did that incorporated a national panel of contributors two years ago today. However, the only difference this time is that the panel would be focused on the House Joint Resolution 23 bill and internationally, rather than nationally like the panel video shown above.

I would like to form a panel as diverse as possible, incorporating as many diverse organizations as possible that have been focused on lowering the voting age, and would be interested in working with around half a dozen individuals who would like to form a panel behind the idea of lowering the voting age and discussing the merits of it.

If you would like to get in touch with me to collaborate on the conference panel, please get in touch with me as soon as possible.

Jester

This year marks many important milestones for many youth victories in the last decade. It can also be a year for additional gains for youth empowerment efforts.

In a few days, spring will begin for the year, with many locations opening up once more and slowly emerging from the cold winter months that have been marked by pandemic and precaution alike. Meanwhile, champions of youth rights are continuing their efforts to give young people a voice in the United States and internationally.

As youth victories are gradually accumulating around the world, there are also the ongoing efforts to enfranchise more youth voices, particularly in the United States. Last month saw the second anniversary of the introduction of House Joint Resolution 23, which has yet to see a formal vote on it. It has hardly any coverage either, and even among those within the youth empowerment network, some aren’t even aware of it.

Given the last several years of the pandemic environment the United States has experienced, including the recent tripledemic, one can understand the ordering of priorities, and how these events that caused global disruptions have made fighting for youth rights difficult. One can also see that youth have been involved in pivotal events during the pandemic as well, yet still often don’t have a vote nor a voice in their immediate sphere of influence around them, despite their efforts to contribute to the fight against the pandemic.

However, 2023 provides a new opportunity for youth voices to be heard; and that is through an upcoming summer project that I would like to collaborate on with any and all youth rights supporters that I wish to share with readers.

As many youth advocates know, I had walked across the United States in 2015. At the time, not only had I fundraised for UNICEF, but I also walked to bring awareness to lowering the voting age to 16. Although there was no national bill to lower the voting age to 16, there is one now. Also, since my walk was during the months of May to September of 2015, I possibly believe that may have gotten the attention of then Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Although Pelosi is no longer the Speaker of the House, she is still in the House of Representatives, meaning there is still some influence her voice can provide to the movement. Given that House Joint Resolution 23 has still not come up for a vote yet, I think now is a time to capitalize on that fact based on the recent gains around the world regarding youth rights.

However, unlike in 2015 when I traveled nationwide by foot, I would like to still travel the nation, but this time by train, to locations where I can speak at events that support youth enfranchisement efforts to bring greater awareness to local, regional efforts as well as the national bill itself.

Why is 2023 a great year to promote these efforts?

Last year saw great progress on youth rights, particularly in Germany and New Zealand. It has almost been a decade since the voting age was lowered in Scotland, with next year being the 10^th anniversary. Finally, this year marks the 10^th anniversary since the voting age was lowered to 16 in Takoma Park, Maryland. Since then, we’ve had other cities follow; but we need to enfranchise more young leaders.

Ongoing efforts in New Zealand demonstrates that we need to support international efforts because of the support we get from them- our collective efforts inspire each other to work hard to enfranchise more youth. Victories in Scotland, Takoma Park, and elsewhere show that it can happen when a concerted effort is put forth. Places that have already had a lowered voting age show that it is not impossible. We’re near that higher end of the tier- getting victories and working to expand more. We need to take advantage of that favorable climate.

At this time, lowering the voting age is not impossible- we already have plenty of examples that show that is not the case, and many more growing efforts that demonstrate that it is even less so. But we still lack a focus through national lens on that issue. I want to help bring it more to the forefront of mainstream media consciousness.

The world is slowly recovering from a global pandemic. There is much rebuilding that needs to happen. It also needs new voices and new leaders to make their voices heard. But if young people are not part of that rebuilding process, the post-pandemic world that emerges tomorrow will look like the pre-pandemic world yesterday- unenfranchised youth who still don’t have a voice, will likely contribute to the next pandemic in the same way they did with the last one, without being credited for their efforts or even acknowledged as being part of the solution. This year can make a difference on whether future leaders can be heard here and now, or if they have to wait years later when the issues they want to weigh in on have less relevance to them- again.

This summer, I want an opportunity to change all that. I want an opportunity to speak on behalf of those we are trying to get voices for. I want to ask for the help of all those reading to help connect me to events to speak at in the next few months. I would like to once again travel across the United States to speak on behalf of youth rights in order to enfranchise the next generation of leaders!

Jester Jersey

DavisKiwanian@mail.com

A famous photo of Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri(R) throwing his fist up in the air. It was widely used during the Jan. 6 Investigation Committee in the last few years. Sen. Hawley has recently authored a bill that seeks to require social media users to be 16 years of age. (Photo courtesy of Vogue)

Social media saw a large amount of activity in the last three years as the pandemic kept many sheltered from socializing early on, only for people to retreat back to the digital world with the revolving seasons as the COVID pandemic reached apexes both during & after vaccines first became available.

For many, social media brought a virtual refuge that even COVID couldn’t touch the last few years, yet many knew full well that the pandemic itself was the reason it drove them to social media. No doubt social media has played an important role in how we communicate in modern times in both pre-pandemic as well as our current environment. In fact, it has become as pervasive in modern living like e-cigarettes- so much so that now government wants to regulate it.

Enter Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri. Sen. Hawley has recently introduced a bill to make it a requirement for social media users to be at minimum 16-years old. While many in either party, whether one leans left or right, or even if they lean moderately as an independent, might not make much of a fuss over this. However, supporters of lowering the voting age might find this useful, even if it doesn’t address the voting age at all.

For the party that has not been supportive of lowering the voting age, it is interesting to note that this legislation came from a Republican senator. In contrast to a bill that was introduced in the House of Representatives two years ago this month, House Joint Resolution 23, Democratic sponsor Grace Meng proposed lowering the national voting age to 16. So did 17 other co-sponsors of the bill.

Often, people see the right & left hardly ever agreeing on any partisan issue. Yet both parties see 16 as a line of demarcation of sorts, even if those reasons range from whether they should be allowed on social media or whether they should have a political voice in who represents them. We already have the latter in several cities in Maryland, so all the more reason to make it uniform across the United States. Even many countries that have had faced difficult opposition to the idea are slowly, or even rapidly, moving in that direction. Not to mention that it already exists in so many other countries even before many supportive organizations started working on the idea.

This post isn’t questioning whether there should be a set minimum age for social media- that can be sorted out in the digital sphere. Instead, this post looks at one of the uncommon common grounds that the left or right even have- setting a minimum age for anything, coming at a time when we have a divided Congress.

Now that we have something we an agree on, let’s get the voting age lowered.

Jester Jersey

DavisKiwanian@mail.com

In late August of later this year, Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have A Dream” speech will mark its 60th anniversary. A photo of King at the national mall in Washington DC. (Photo provided by History)

This year’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day marks the eve of the 60th anniversary of his I Have A Dream speech later this summer. So, how have things changed since that warm summer day? In some ways, things have improved, while some things have yet to change, while still yet others make it seem like things have gone into full overdrive- but in reverse. Let’s take a look at what is what.

In the last 60 years, we’ve seen more inclusion in society, such as more representation of minority groups in media, from broadcast television, to shows on streaming providers, to larger events of historical significance, such as the election of the first African-American President of the United States, Barack Obama.

Granted, social change doesn’t occur overnight. Few things ever do. But one would hope as we have been progressing towards a more progressive society, one would think the backwards thinking of the days of Jim Crow would be far from the rearview mirror, right? Unfortunately, this doesn’t always seem to be the case.

While we’ve made great strides in inclusivity, we’ve also failed to make other progressive accomplishments, such as lowering the voting age when other efforts around the world have been making gains in those endeavors. Even for other rights, such as voting restoration for voters who’ve gained the right back after previously losing it or even basic abortion rights for young mothers, one has to wonder about the future progressive efforts, like addressing school violence & climate change concerns.

However, the more pressing & perhaps concerning are the more recent events involving racial inequality, such as the recent news stories about the need to remind society that Black Lives Matter, and the efforts involved in those events that have captured the headlines in recent memory.

African-American communities aren’t the only segments of society that are also affected by racism: Asian-Americans have also experienced their fair share of discrimination in recent years with respect to the COVID pandemic.

Recently, the Orange County Board of Supervisors declared racial inequalities that persist to be health crisis, demonstrating that many communities still have to grapple with challenges to address divides that affect contemporary individuals of modern society who hail from diverse backgrounds. These issues of race & intolerance continue against the backdrop of Martin Luther King’s Dream, showing that 60 years later, many of us may not have seen as much progress as we would like.

Clearly, there is much work to be done besides marking the three-score milestone speech from the one whose legacy we are observing this month and this very weekend in the United States going into the 60th year of making that Dream into a reality.

Martin Luther King provided a voice for the voiceless of his time, much like our efforts today are bringing voices to those who have none. We have to continue that legacy in our work as well, regardless of what particular segment of the human population we want to amplify. One of those main focuses should be enfranchising those who don’t already have a voice, so we don’t have to speak on their behalf, but can have a voice of their own to advocate for themselves.

Dreams don’t become realities unless dreamers put plans into action.

Jester Jersey

DavisKiwanian@mail.com

A photo of Jacinda Ardern, New Zealand’s Prime Minister. Like the outgoing U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, the prime minister supports lowering the voting age to 16. With current events playing out across the world with regards to lowering the voting age, the U.S. just might be next to make it happen! (photo courtesy of Oliver Contreras of UPI news)

As the United states closes out another year without a lowered federal voting age to 16, two global beacons of hope are keeping the torch lit as well as continuing to give momentum to the movement worldwide.

Terry Reintke, a Member of the European Parliament(MEP) and President of the Greens–European Free Alliance(Greens/EFA), announced the German Parliament’s move to lower the voting age for European elections to 16 early last month via Twitter. The move comes after several German political parties have supported the idea in recent years, which I’ve covered previously in a blog post from the summer.

The movement to lower the voting age as well as expand democratic voices isn’t only limited to Europe, but allies in Oceania, the area of New Zealand, Australia & Tasmania, are also making extraordinary gains as well.

The supreme court in New Zealand has recently made a supportive decision by ruling that its current minimum voting age discriminates against 16 year-olds. This landmark achievement would have only been possible thanks to the efforts of the Make it 16 Campaign of New Zealand, so if you’re part of the movement and reading this, this post is dedicated to your efforts. My and other allies’ hats are off to you for this!

For those of us in the U.S., but also active supporters in Europe, Oceania and everywhere else around the world, we have momentum going into 2023 to help our respective movements achieve more to help give a platform and amplify young voices. Keep up the pressure by recommitting your efforts to give those who don’t yet have a voice and continue to work together with allies no matter where we’re located. Together, we can achieve great things!

Jester Jersey

@16ToVoteProject

A map of places where felon who have been convicted can vote, depending on the state’s laws. Recent debate has been opened up once again on restoring the eligibility of voters who’ve been previously convicted of crimes. (Map courtesy of wuwf88.1)

The recent elections have once again touched on the subject of whether convicted felons should have their voting rights restored after they’ve served their time. Many people support giving offenders a second chance, particularly when issues affecting them after they’ve been released from prison will continue to do so after they’ve been released. However, recent elections have caused confusion on the topic. Depending on where one calls home, the level of voting restoration also differs, as some are able to vote as soon as they’re released while other states throw a bunch of hurdles that prevent those with prior convictions from participating their democratic right.

In the state of Florida for example, where the issue has been the focal point of recent debates, as Amendment Four, which looked to restore the voting rights of those previously convicted, has met with some confusion and obstacles by Florida voters.

While former Florida felons do get their vote restored, it is often after they have paid fines associated with their incarceration. In the event a felon has failed to completely pay their fine, they are sometimes charged with voter fraud, which has happened to several potential voters. The Real News editor-in-chief Maximillian Alvarez, who hosts a politically independent-oriented podcast, spoke to Florida State Representative Anna Eskamani about the confusion.

Mansa Musa, the podcast co-host, also contributed to the discussion, likening the idea of being incarcerated for voting because you were previously incarcerated, to the Jim Crow era, arguing that “in 2022, [we] find ourselves in this place of Georgia, Alabama, 1960 Ku Klux Klan, stalking the polls to have us in this state of mind where now we legislate this terror and lock people up, it’s beyond […] imagination”.

If being incarcerated is beyond one’s imagination, then imagine what it is like to be unable to vote, despite being expected to pay taxes, be able to drive vehicles on publicly supported roads and still not be able to have a say on issues that affect you and your peers. That is just as imaginative, and one’s only fault is just not being old enough.

Keep supporting lowering the voting age and common sense voting reforms in order to correct these injustices. Not only do felons deserve chances, but youth voters deserve to have their first chance to vote too.

Jester Jersey

DavisKiwanian@mail.com

Patrick Henry High School in San Diego, CA. Not only is it the site of a secondary educational institution, it’s also the location of a respiratory outbreak. (photo courtesy of KPBS)

This week, ACT scores were released for this past summer’s graduating class, revealing the effects the COVID pandemic has had on the recent educational experience for many students across the U.S. from the previous school year. The results aren’t good- scores have been at their lowest since the early 90s. Many attribute this dip to a less than tactile educational approach that the pandemic has forced upon many school districts across the U.S. in the last two years as a result of remote learning. One could write a whole article on the issue of remote learning alone, but the focus of today’s article is on the actual schooling experience itself.

In the same week, a respiratory ailment has caused more than a thousand students from two San Diego high schools to miss out on classes. The two schools, Patrick Henry(pictured above) as well as Del Norte High School had a combined student absence of more than 1,500. This is being attributed to an early case of this year’s flu season, which like the Coronavirus pandemic that has caused us to pause life as we knew it more than two years ago, now threatens this early school year’s progress of going back to school after many students opted to continue learning from home.

These two stories highlights the complex dynamics between the pandemic and the high school experience for many. Across the U.S., very few high schools have actual students on their school boards- in contrast to places like Berkeley and Oakland school districts, also in California, which have included 16-year old youths to their board, and perhaps other school boards in the U.S., not too many other districts are able to advocate for the well-being of their fellow peers. At times, students have had to confront those who weren’t always supportive of the option to wear masks in the midst of the pandemic, as in this viral story from Florida earlier this year documents.

In regards to test scores themselves, the NPR reported that inequities prior to the pandemic have become even more apparent, as remote learning required many low-income students to deal with the need to acquire materials, such as a computer, internet service and other items to conduct remote learning. This doesn’t even mention the further unequal financial burden associated with the move, i.e. families needing to stay home from work to watch younger children previously sent to daycares, sign up for internet services as well as provide meals to their child who is learning remotely. Because of these challenges, some higher education institutions have adapted to the situation, dropping the requirement that traditional college entrance exam scores not be taken into consideration on applications.

Unfortunately, high schools have not or may not be as accommodating. The lack of students on school boards likely plays a role in this, as resources to help students during the pandemic might not always be allocated to less privileged students to continue their learning.

With regards to the pandemic itself, or even the new outbreak of flu in school like the ones being seen in the two San Diego high schools, students have often clashed with their schools in favor of keeping mask mandates, such as this story last year from a student who spoke at his local school board. It is safe to assume that at his school, the school board has not integrated youths to weigh in on the issues affecting them at their center of learning. This narrative likely plays out in many other places, often times where youth are trying to do what’s best for them and even those around them.

Of course, the larger argument is autonomy itself, about getting the vote for the youth who actually attend their schools. This may not have applied to the outbreaks in San Diego, but it could have. Students could shape how the district responds to this or other similar cases if this starts happening nationwide. It’s hard to say whether doing this would improve student test scores looking at the whole picture, but if students feel the need to continue mask mandates at their school, it would guarantee students actually showed up to their classes rather than missing them, and possibly increasing their scores on entrance exams.

The main point is students should have the vote- we have the legislation to make it happen, and we just need to get it passed so youth lives are improved with regards to all things pertaining their educational experience.

-Jester Jersey

DavisKiwanian@mail.com

Protesters supporting abortion rights. This summer saw abundant protests nationwide after the decision on Roe v. Wade was overturned in June.(Photo courtesy of Gregg Pachkowski)

Earlier this summer, the Supreme Court overturned the ruling status quo set by the decision on the Roe vs. Wade case from half a century ago. At a time when healthcare is top of mind for many after going through an ongoing pandemic and with our national health infrastructure grappling with its response to the pandemic for the last two years, basic rights of autonomy regarding maternal care are now being called into question, even for those needing an abortion for whatever reason. In this fray, youth are caught up in a mess of politics in which they still don’t have a say.

Take this case last month in Florida for example: recently, a parentless young woman applied to get an abortion on the grounds that she cannot care for the child. However, she was denied on the basis that she lacked “maturity” to make a sufficient decision for herself, despite her being the one most affected by the decision making around her, forcing her to carry a child to term despite not having a means to care for the child.

The 16-year old girl had to navigate tons of paperwork just to get a hearing in the first place, and despite being of working-age, and therefore paying taxes on any kind of work she could secure, she was deemed immature to get an abortion. One could argue if this had been in a state where there are active efforts to lower the voting age, or in places where it has been lowered, like several municipalities in Maryland, that could have been brought up as an argument to show that if one is mature enough to select their elected representatives to represent them in government, then one should be mature enough to make decisions on their own behalf on health issues that affects their own body. However, this isn’t the case.

If you think efforts to make voting more difficult for people from last year was hard, imagine being denied an abortion on the grounds that, “Yes, despite you being of working & childbearing-age, carrying a developing child to term within your own body, eligible to pay taxes on income you earn from employment, autonomous enough to get a vaccine without parental consent to stop the spread of a virus that caused a global pandemic, we still deem you not mature enough to make a health decision that will affect the course of your life despite not having any means to support the life of the child you now carry.” Many who seek out abortions in the first place are the people who don’t always have a means to care for themselves, let alone another life.

When you consider that, like the efforts to make voting harder, there are yet others who are making abortion harder as well, even after the results of overturning the national status quo regarding abortions, then you have a catastrophic mix of individuals unable to make decisions about their own healthcare, let alone elected representatives, while the need to support unplanned births in communities nationwide. This benefits no one.

Lowering the voting age nationwide through House Joint Resolution 23 demonstrates the impact for not only working-age youth to have a say in how the taxed income from their earnings are used by their elected representatives, but to also have a say in their own healthcare with regards to maternal care decisions.

-Jester Jersey

DavisKiwanian@mail.com

Climate protesters supporting the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, which has some legislation to address current climate challenges and other more recent issues that have surfaced as of this year (Photo by Samuel Corum/Getty Images)

The news has had no shortage of reporting on the record-high inflation many consumers have been facing for the last few months. Although gas prices have been decreasing for the last two months straight, other expenses have not, such as those in the rental market and at the grocery store. With the pandemic still in the background as summer wraps up amid other issues, youth in the climate change efforts have had some recent gains with the Inflation Reduction Act.

The Inflation Reduction Act(IRA) was recently passed to address a number of issues that have arose in light of the recession fears, including addressing taxes and providing relief for those who invest in greener technologies, to tackling some aspects of climate change and relief for seniors who are dependent on prescription medication. Of course, the IRA is also looking to address current effects of inflation, which has been plaguing the economy the last few months much like COVID has with the global economy the last two and a half years. It is estimated that passage of the bill means more than $300 billion in consumer savings on all of the above in some form or another.

Some argue that the legislation doesn’t go far enough, as inflation will likely will be a problem months after the legislation is signed, providing only a short-term bandage fix to the economy. Others argue it is taking “some small steps in the right direction” according to Lundy Wright, partner and portfolio manager at Weiss Multi-Strategy Advisers. Although Wright believes the name of the bill is misleading, he admits “a longer-term clean energy plan has been glaringly lacking from recent policies, this … is a positive step, even if its immediate impact is very low”. Indeed, some efforts are better than nothing, and this passage of the IRA does provide some hope for passing other legislation that is oriented towards youth, such as H.J. Resolution 23, which would lower the national voting age to 16.

While the IRA bill doesn’t necessarily focus solely on climate change, it does do a good job of taking small steps in addressing issues that are youth-specific, such as climate matters involving investing in greener technologies, as youth have also been much affected by the rise in prices for everything the last few months, making a difference in how much a guardian can provide for them, or the case of more autonomy, how much they can provide for themselves.

The bill also indirectly addresses the need for more involvement by those who will be affected by the longer-term effects of climate change for longer periods of time. As climate change issues continue to be discussed during one of the hottest years on record, more youth voices should be incorporated to address both short-term issues such as economic inflation and long-term issues such as climate. The next step to do this is by passing House Joint Resolution 23.

Jеstеr Jеrsеy

DavisKiwanian@mail.com

Germany moves closer to lowering their national voting age to 16. Some regions of the country already have done so while neighbouring Austria had already lowered its national voting age years ago. (photo courtesy of the @dpa)

In what could be game-changing news for fellow youth enfranchisers around the world, Germany could be the next major nation to enfranchise 16-year olds nationwide. Last year, Berlin News reported that supporters of the move did not have the votes to make a change happen. However, after last September’s elections and recent events leaning towards that direction, a majority of liberal supporters, including the original backers of the move prior to last year’s election along with another liberal German faction, now have the majority to make this reform possible for the near future.

Although only 5 of the 16 German states currently have an avenue for 16-year olds to vote in political affairs, current supporters trying to nationalize the efforts say other states most likely will join the currents ones. The SPD faction leader, Raed Saleh, who leads one of several liberal factions within the German government also stated that “It’s high time for Berlin,” arguing that in German states where the voting age was lowered, many young people took advantage of their new right.

The German efforts to enfranchise more youth are also part of the global efforts to lower the voting age to 16 in countries around the world that I wrote about in May’s blog post. The coalition continues to grow, and we’re always looking for new global allies to help enfranchise fellow.

Jеstеr Jеrsеy

DavisKiwanian@mail.com