Where Has Vote16 Passed?
Was It Successful?
Vote16 was first passed in Takoma Park, Maryland and then in Hyattsville, Maryland for local elections. It has since been passed in other cities in Maryland and across the U.S. including for the school board in Berkeley, California. For extensive information about other Vote16 campaigns check out the national website: vote16usa.org.
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Historical data shows what happens when 16- and 17-year-olds can vote. Figure 1 graphs the voter turnout rates in Takoma Park for 16- and 17-year-olds versus all voters. As shown in this graph, 16- and 17-year-olds voted at 4 times the average. This shows that voting for the first time at age 16 truly does have a positive effort on turnout rates.
Figure 1: Voter turnout rates for Takoma Park, Maryland in the 2013 and 2015 elections, comparing voters aged 16 & 17 and all voters. Source: Vox
Where else have 16- and 17-year-olds voted in elections?
What were their turnout rates?
Figure 2: Voter turnout rates in Austria and Norway for 16- and 17-year-olds compared to 18-21 year olds. Source: Vox
As shown in Figure 2 above, when 16 year olds voted in Austria and Norway, they turned out at a higher rate than the next highest voting block, voters aged 18-21.