Stake in the Game

Students in Palo Alto are just as affected by decisions made by the City Council as other community members, from the budget of city services and teen services to transportation infrastructure to environmental policies and the overall goals for our city’s future. Furthermore, high school students have the benefit of a different perspective on how Palo Alto’s operations are impacting young people, however, we lack the political power to hold elected officials accountable and ensure that our voices are heard.

An essential component of the Vote16 movement is understanding that 16- and 17-year-olds are not simply bystanders in their community, observing and existing idly while the adults surrounding them feel the impacts of local legislation. 16- and 17-year-olds are contributing members of their local communities, and they are affected by local politics, too. However, while those 18 and older are able to influence the laws they’re governed by, 16- and 17-year-olds are voiceless in local elections.

Teen Responsibility

In 2011 alone, teens contributed $730 million in income tax nationally, yet were granted no say in how that money would be distributed.

Despite this lack of representation in local elections — which many argue is due to teenage immaturity and irresponsibility — teenagers are entrusted with many of the same tasks as their adult counterparts. At 16 years old, teenagers become eligible to drive, trusted to take on the road, and responsibly operate one of mankind’s most dangerous inventions. At the same age, teenagers are permitted — encouraged — to join the workforce, to get a job and earn wages and pay taxes that contribute to the wellbeing and functionality of their entire community. At 16, along with being granted the ability to work and drive, teenagers can be tried as adults in a court of law and can be placed in prison for crimes they’ve committed.

Political Activism

While society treats 16- and 17-year-olds as mature, contributive citizens in several ways, it still insists on making decisions for them, on excluding them from the decision-making process altogether. 16- and 17-year-olds are politically active, politically engaged, and affected by the laws of their city. For a recent example, one needs to look no further than the Black Lives Matter protests that swept the nation, or the climate change activism that came before, or the Parkland March for Our Lives that was entirely student-organized and resulted in a turnout of over one million people. Are young people not affected by decisions currently being debated by the City Council? Calls for Palo Alto police reform and funding redistribution, the slashing of funding from the arts programs of local high schools, the sudden reduction in size of the Human Relations Commission, which addresses systemic racism — these are measures the Council votes on, measures that plainly impact the 16- and 17-year-olds within our community. Young people are affected by the city’s budget. Young people are affected by the city’s response to injustice and oppression. Young people are affected by the city’s public health legislature. Young people are affected by decisions made that affect the quality of their education. And they’ve proven, time and time again, that they’re motivated to make change: take a look at the demographic makeup of June’s Black Lives Matter protests if you need convincing.

Lack of Representation

To date, teenagers have little ability to influence the legislature of Palo Alto. Teenagers have even less ability to ensure that their representatives are truly, as their name implies, representing them. The ability to hold local politicians accountable is limited to adults only; teenagers must sit back and accept the Council’s decisions. A measure that allows 16- and 17-year-olds to vote would also obligate Palo Alto’s governing bodies to listen to their constituents — all of their constituents. A government that considers all of its citizens’ needs, especially when those underrepresented citizens are influenced directly by local law, is a government that can better serve all Palo Altans.

Oftentimes, by the time students are 18 and old enough to vote for the change they want to see in our city, they are off to college or other post-high school plans. Allowing 16- and 17-year-olds to vote in city council elections will force candidates to listen to and address the concerns of all of their constituents.