Today is National Voter Registration Day and in addition to urging you to check your registration advocates are making the case for lowering the voting age.

While typically less attention is paid to voting in off-year elections, there are still ballots in many localities, and in some of those Marylanders as young as 16 can vote.

Five cities in Maryland allow 16- and 17-year-olds to vote in local elections. In November, voters in Rockville can participate in a nonbinding referendum on lowering the voting age to 16.

Alyssa Canty, director of youth programs for Common Cause, said young people are often beginning to see the effects of civic policy.

"When they're 16- or 17-year-olds, they are starting their first part-time jobs," Canty pointed out. "So they now have income, so they're purchasing things, so they are paying sales tax, but they have no say in what happens to those tax dollars."

At the state level, any Marylander can register at age 16 but cannot vote in state or federal elections until they reach 18.

Maryland state law permits city councils to lower the voting age at the local level, and so far Takoma Park, Greenbelt, Hyattsville, Riverdale Park and Mount Rainier have done so. In Somerset, 16-year-olds will be able to vote in local elections beginning next May.

Canty sees late high school as a good time to engage young people.

"Usually around 16, 17 years old, that junior, senior year of high school, that's also when you take your really in-depth civics class, and you learn about how the government works," Canty explained. "It's almost like experimental learning where you get to actually go and cast a ballot."

Canty noted as campaigns have spread across the country, they often see young people taking the lead on the issue.

"We have seen where young people are energized by this issue," Canty pointed out. "In many places, they're the ones that are on the forefront leading this work because they see themselves as being really impacted by local elections, by their school boards, by their city councils."

For more information on the effort, visit Vote16USA.org.


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It is National Voter Education Week, and one Nevada organization wants to ensure every Nevadan can vote in the upcoming elections.

A nonpartisan campaign aims to "bridge the gap between registering to vote and actually casting a ballot."

Noé Orosco, program manager for the group Silver State Voices, said each day of the week will focus on a specific call to action which his organization and other community partners are aiming to what he calls 'Nevada-fy.' He explained while some states require fees or the completion of parole to have voting rights restored, Nevada does not.

"Since 2020, we have been engaging our formerly incarcerated communities and letting them know that their rights have been restored," Orosco explained. "That is one of the ways that we are 'Nevada-fying,' this week of action to really being very intentional in the fact that Nevada was one of the first few states to restore the right to vote."

Orosco said Tuesday's focus is all about requesting your mail-in ballot. He called it another point making Nevada unique. In 2021, Nevada passed legislation to automatically send registered voters a mail-in ballot.

Orosco emphasized it is important for those using mail-in ballots in upcoming elections to remember to sign it. Regardless of how you vote, he encouraged everyone to make a plan before Election Day.

Orosco stressed it is also paramount to educate yourself on the candidates and the issues impacting Nevada. Silver State Voices has partnered with the Institute for a Progressive Nevada to create a nonpartisan voter guide called VoteSmartNV.org. Orosco said the guide lists each candidate for each major office and includes candidates' responses, in their own words, to a number of standardized questions touching on various topics and does so in multiple languages.

Orosco added Nevada is diverse, and it is something everyone should be paying attention to.

"Don't just ignore, not just the Latino community, but any other ethnic community because you're assuming that they are going to be voting a specific way for a specific candidate for a specific party," Orosco pointed out. "That is simply just not the case."

The last day of the week is dedicated to increasing civic engagement. Orosco said it can be achieved in many ways, from becoming a county poll worker to sending a register-to-vote link to family and friends.

The state of Arizona played a crucial role in 2020 and 2022 elections. Experts predict that won't be any different in 2024.

President of Voto Latino María Teresa Kumar said in 2010, Arizona classrooms were roughly 30% filled by Latino children - and those kids are now of voting age.

She said "through activating young people," Arizona flipped from being a red state to a blue state in 2020 - by merely 12,000 votes.

She added that approximately 70% of younger Latinos consider themselves to be more progressive than older Latinos.

"Our challenge is to convince them to get into the game of democracy, and to vote people in power that share their values - so that they can become the biggest game changers," said Kumar. "We are expecting 163,000 Latino youth to turn 18 in that state [Arizona] alone. The tsunami is just beginning."

Kumar said many Latino youth in Arizona started entering the political sphere in 2018, like in other states around the country, because of what she calls "show me your paper," laws.

While jobs and abortion are top of mind issues for Latino youth, she added that many became more politically and civically engaged to ensure the safety and security of their families - an issue Kumar argued hasn't been identified or addressed more broadly.

State Rep. Alma Hernandez - D-South Tucson - called Arizona a catalyst for change.

She argued that for many years, politicians have taken the Latino community for granted - and added that when Latinos do get elected to public office, not enough is being done to turn out the Latino vote.

"We need to do better as a community to really do what we can to lay that ground work early on," said Hernandez, "not doing this 3 weeks before the election, right? The investment is what is so important and that is how we really change the policies."

Hernandez added that there are many students and youth in Arizona that could do great political work, but simply can't afford to.

She encouraged more recruiting and support within the Latino community, but is pleased overall with the work that has been done in Arizona to turn the state more purple and less red.

But, she said, work remains.




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A federal judge has blocked a 2022 Arizona law that voting-rights advocates say would have made it harder for some Native Americans to vote.

House Bill 2492 required that all registered voters provide proof of a physical address to cast a ballot. But the Native American Rights Fund contends more than 40,000 homes located on reservations do not have a physical address.

Allison Neswood, staff attorney with the Native American Rights Fund, is pleased with the decision, which ensures that citizens living in tribal communities can vote.

"Wanting to make sure that a new law that's sort of targeting the specific structural issues that Native Americans face was really important, I think, for the tribes who participated in the case, and who brought the issue forward and wanted to make sure that these addressing issues didn't get lost," she contended.

Neswood explained the judge's ruling means the bill's addressing requirement must be liberally interpreted so that no one is required to have a standard street address in order to vote. This also means a voter's identity can be verified at the polling place using an Arizona-issued ID that lists a P.O. box or any tribal identification document.

Neswood argued cases like this show tribal members care a lot about being able to exercise their voting rights - and will defend those rights when threatened. She added Native Americans across the country face what she calls "overlapping barriers," which can make civic engagement more challenging in these communities.

"These systemic issues stacked on top of each other make it harder for Native Americans to access the ballot," she continued. "And then, of course, just because of the historical treatment of Native American people, we have higher rates of poverty, higher rates of homelessness, which just increases the challenges of navigating all of those barriers."

She added using addresses in voter registration and election processes already make it hard for Native Americans to participate in elections, even without the new law. Last year, then-Gov. Doug Ducey signed the law, citing efforts to instill election integrity and prohibit attempts to vote illegally.