Common Cause Kicks Off "Vote 16 Week of Advocacy"
A new effort by the Common Cause Alliance for Emerging Power is an important step for the Vote 16 movement.
Vote 16 needs the support of large democracy reform advocacy networks.
Lowering the voting age in the United States is really hard. Elections are administered at the local level. There is no positive right to vote in the US constitution and each state can make its own laws about the voting process. Vote 16 advocates all across the country are making incredible progress. But there is so much work to do to persuade voters and policy makers to pass Vote 16 legislation and to support local election officials in implementing Vote 16 policy well.
One critically important strategy for the Vote 16 movement is partnering with leading US democracy reform organizations that have extensive networks of state and local chapters. These partnerships are strategic for everyone involved! Vote 16 advocates are able to access the networks, expertise, and power necessary to advance their goals much more quickly than they could working alone. Democracy reform organizations are able to bring a new generation of dynamic leaders into their work. And if it all goes well, they ALL get to live in a country where young people are included in democracy!
This week, Vote 16 advocates are joining with the Common Cause Alliance for Emerging Power in taking important new steps to advance a critically important partnership.
Common Cause Alliance for Emerging Power hosts “Vote 16 Week of Advocacy”
Any way you slice it, Common Cause is one the most important organizations in the United States working towards a more inclusive democracy. They have chapters in 30 states. More than 1,500,000 Americans are part of the Common Cause as individual members.
Common Cause has deep roots in the work of including young people in American democracy. 50 years ago, they led the movement to pass the 26th amendment that lowered the voting age to 18 in the United States. Common Cause remains at the forefront of democracy reform in the United States fighting hard for voting rights, against gerrymandering, and on a variety of other critical issues.
Common Cause has redoubled its efforts around youth suffrage by launching the Common Cause Alliance for Emerging Power. Anchored by the Common Cause state affiliates in Georgia, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, and Virginia, the Alliance for Emerging Power has 30 student fellows, 220 fellowship alumni, and thousands of youth members from across the country. Led by democracy visionary Alyssa Canty, this network is one of the most exciting efforts happening in the American democracy reform movement right now.
This week, the Common Cause Alliance for Emerging Power is hosting a “Vote 16 Week of Advocacy” featuring leaders from Common Cause state affiliates who are making important progress advancing Vote 16 efforts in their states.
All of these programs will be accessible on the Alliance for Emerging Power instagram. The first program at 2:30 ET today features two leaders doing vital work to advance Vote 16 policies in their states. As executive director of Common Cause Massachusetts, Geoff Foster has helped advance several bills under consideration in the Massachusetts legislature that would allow cities and towns to lower the voting age. Saliha Garcia, an intern with Common Cause Maryland, has been active in advocating for Vote 16 policy especially in connection with the recent effort to lower the voting age in Rockville.
I hope you’ll join!
The Upshot? Vote 16 and leading democracy reform organizations need each other!
The burgeoning partnership between the Vote 16 movement and leading democracy reform organizations like Common Cause is a very interesting and exciting development. And Common Cause is not the only organization exploring Vote 16. The League of Women Voters of Maine just released a new study on Vote 16 that is an important step towards engaging on Vote 16 across the entire network of 700+ city and state League of Women Voters chapters. Watch this space in the coming days for more news on that study!
Sam Novey is a co-founder of the Vote 16 Research Network and a community scholar at the University of Maryland Center for Democracy and Civic Engagement.