{"bills":[{"photos":{"featured":"https://assets.causes.com/bill/photo/150267/featured_charter-amendment-sixteen-and-seventeen-year-old-voting-for-municipal-elections-1436891473.jpg","featured_large":"https://assets.causes.com/bill/photo/150267/featured_large_charter-amendment-sixteen-and-seventeen-year-old-voting-for-municipal-elections-1436891473.jpg"},"introduced_on":"2015-03-16","title_override":"Smells Like Teen Legislation: Should 16‐ and 17‐year Olds Get to Vote in City Elections?","summary_override":"

Society doesn’t give teenagers a lot of power. Aside from driving, teens don’t have access to most of the privileges held by people over 18. This bill aims to put the power of civic engagement in their hands.

Specifically, it would propose putting an initiative on the November 2016 ballot lowering San Francisco’s voting age to 16.

Who’s behind this legislative maneuver to empower teenagers? Well, teenagers of course. In January 2015, San Francisco’s Youth Commission (an appointed seventeen member body between 12‐23 years old) adopted a resolution urging the Board of Supervisors to consider legislation that would allow 16‐ and 17‐year olds to vote in municipal elections.

The bill was introduced on March 17th, 2015 and sponsored by Supervisor John Avalos, David Campos, Jane Kim, and Eric Mar. It’s been bounced back and forth between several departments, and it now includes an additional provision. If passed, this bill would amend San Francisco’s Charter Amendment to allow 16 and 17-year-olds to vote for members of two of the City’s most important educational bodies: the Board of Education for the San Francisco Unified School District and the Governing Board of the Community College District.

","official_title":"Charter Amendment – Sixteen and Seventeen Year Old Voting for Municipal Elections ","short_title":null,"popular_title":null,"short_summary":null,"summarized":true,"cost":null,"cost_commentary":"According to the City Controller, this amendment would increase the costs of producing voter materials and conducting outreach campaigns. But the additional expenses would represent a “marginal” increase in the Department of Election’s annual costs. ","impact":"16 and 17‐year-old San Francisco residents, the Board of Education, the Governing Board of the Community College District, the Youth Commission, & legislation teenagers care about. ","argument_for":"Letting teens know that their voice matters in legislative affairs will encourage them to participate in civic affairs. Besides, teens already work and drive like adults, why shouldn’t they be allowed to vote like them too? ","argument_against":"This is a political ploy by progressive supervisors to prey on gullible young voters. The legal age of adulthood and eligibility for voting is pegged at 18 for a reason—it gives teens the time to mature and develop their own opinions. 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Smells Like Teen Legislation: Should 16‐ and 17‐year Olds Get to Vote in City Elections?