Baltimore teens get chance to register

Quirk in primary allows 16-, 17-year-olds to vote

By Gary Gately, Globe Correspondent, 9/9/2003

BALTIMORE -- Don't tell Stacey Reed she's too young to vote. The 17-year-old ticks off plenty of reasons why she has a big stake in who's elected to lead this city: failing schools, drug dealers who take over corners, gunfire ringing out in the night, neighborhoods devoid of recreation for kids.

"Who knows what young people want and need better than young people? We know from experience what goes on in our schools and neighborhoods," she said.

Reed, a high school student from East Baltimore, will get her chance to vote today in this city's primary election, along with about 2,400 other 16- and 17-year-olds who have registered. They're too young to drink alcohol legally, too young to be drafted, and they don't own homes, pay property taxes, or have children in the public schools. But youngsters under 18 can cast their ballot for mayor and City Council as a result of a quirk in election scheduling.

Voters in Baltimore, a city of about 600,000, decided to move local elections from 2003 to 2004 to coincide with the presidential election. That left a 14-month gap between the city primary and general elections. And Maryland law allows all who will be 18 by the general election (or 17 by this Nov. 2) to vote in the primary.

Though it's an electoral fluke, the youthful exercise in democracy is being closely watched in Baltimore and beyond.

"We have an opportunity this election to really set the stage for what might happen all over the country because people are looking at Baltimore to see how youths respond," said Sheila Dixon, a Democrat seeking reelection as City Council president. "I'd like to see Baltimore be a trailblazer."

The estimated 2,400 registered voters under 18 amount to just a small fraction of the more than 261,000 registered citywide. Still, Barbara Jackson, director of the City Board of Elections, said she's pleasantly surprised by the number registered to vote in the primary -- a crucial balloting day in a city where Democrats outnumber Republicans more than 8 to 1.

"I did not think young people of that age would be that interested in the electoral process," Jackson said. "When I was a 16-year-old, I had no interest at all in voting."

But times -- and priorities among youths -- are much different in 21st-century Baltimore, a city where 189 people have been murdered this year, where many schools perform dismally, where neighborhood libraries have been closed because of budget woes.

At 16, Josh Shuler said he's seen too many drug dealers working the streets and too much hopelessness in his East Baltimore neighborhood. "I think it's just like a big disgrace to our city," said the 10th-grader at St. Frances Academy, a Catholic inner-city high school. "I've seen a lot of stuff going on in the neighborhood . . . and I don't see anybody doing anything about it. Maybe if I vote, my vote will change that."

Fellow registered voter Christopher Nelson, 17, said he'll cast his ballot for politicians he hopes will make a difference by focusing on the needs of students in poor city schools, cutting down crime, and ensuring neighborhoods have libraries and community centers. By voting, Nelson said, he not only makes his voice heard, but honors those who came before him. "It's a privilege because so many people fought and sometimes died for the right to vote," he said.

Youth suffrage could help make politicians more accountable, said Reed, who along with many other youths has participated in voter-registration drives in the city. She has a message for politicians: "Don't talk about it; be about it," she said. "Don't involve us during the election process, then forget about us when you've won."

Reed, who plans to become a nurse, supports a campaign by a group called Safe and Sound to commit city revenue to a youth-development fund.

Beyond Baltimore, many say that lowering the voting age is overdue. Youth advocates have launched efforts to lower the age to 16 in Florida, Minnesota, and Texas and to 17 in Maine. Efforts to reduce the voting age to 16 also have taken hold in Anchorage and Takoma Park, Md., while the nonprofit National Youth Rights Association says it plans to push to lower New York City's age to 15.

Alex Koronknay-Palicz, president of the association, which is based in Washington, said he's heartened by growing support for lowering the voting age.

"I think the strongest case for why they should have a vote is so many of the laws in society affect young people, but they have no way politically to improve their lives or their schools or their community," he said.

But not everybody agrees that those under 18 should be allowed to vote.

"I think it's a terminally dumb idea," said Curtis Gans, director of the Washington-based Committee for the Study of the American Electorate. "They're neither prepared nor have any responsibilities. It's a threat to sound governance."