State Bill

 Statewide campaign

Our focus for the statewide route is to introduce a California state bill to the CA Assembly in early 2021, which would give school districts the power to lower the voting age to 16 for local school board elections. The bill would allow school districts and voters to “opt-in” and lower the voting age for their school board elections. A main benefit of this bill would be increased local control over elections, and giving individual school districts and their surrounding community the opportunity to decide whether they want to lower the voting age to 16. 

What we are working on right now

Meeting with state legislators to gain support and find a sponsor for the bill. 

Our next steps

1. Draft the state bill with the aid of Palo Alto Board of Education Vice President Shounak Dharap.

2. Push the Palo Alto Unified School District Board of Education to pass a resolution in support of the state bill.

3. Collaborate with other Vote16 campaigns across California to gain widespread support and develop plans for outreach.

4. Vote16 is partnering with GenUp, a California-based, statewide student-led social justice organization and student activist coalition advocating for education equality, to gain support from CA school districts.