State Legislatures Encourage Civic Participation

A number of state legislatures have introduced bills that aim to
increase youth voter participation. Proposals have included lowering
the voting age, allowing 17-year-olds to vote in primary elections and
advance registration for 16-year-olds. Minnesota introduced a
constitutional amendment lowering the voting age from 18 to 16. In Connecticut, the legislature is considering two bills (
HJ 7,
HJ 11) that would allow 17-year-olds to vote in primary elections if they will be 18 before the general election. Three states--
California,
Maryland and
Pennsylvania--want to promote youth voter participation through advance
registration and by establishing "high school voter weeks" twice a
year. Strengthening civic education in high schools was considered (but
did not make it through committee) in
Florida and
Indiana, but a FairVote-backed
civic education bill in Maryland was signed into law.
Read more about FairVote's
100% Youth Voter Registration ProjectRead about FairVote's high school voting curriculum,
Learning Democracy