The Vote 16 Implementation guide was developed by Amy Meli, PhD Candidate in the UMD Government and Politics Department. The guide was informed by insights from Laura Reams, City Clerk in Hyattsville Maryland.
Vote 16 Implementation Guide
This is a guide for municipalities that have adopted policies allowing people ages 16 and older to vote in municipal elections. This document includes information about how to implement Vote 16 in three steps:
Setting up the infrastructure to accommodate voters under the age of 18
Reaching out to eligible voters under the age of 18
Ensuring equity in the voting process for voters under the age of 18
If you have questions about implementing Vote 16 or about any of the contents of this report, please contact Sam Novey at snovey@umd.edu.
Setting Up Vote 16 Infrastructure
There are two primary considerations when setting up infrastructure – a supplementary voter file and whether your state has pre-registration for people under the age of 18. A supplemental voter file is a file that contains the voter registration information of individuals who might not be able to vote in every election. Examples of individuals whose registration would be on a supplemental voter file instead of the regular voting are those who might be incarcerated felons or non-citizens. These groups cannot vote in all elections, such as federal elections or some state elections, but municipalities have passed legislation to allow these groups to vote in local elections.
If a municipality already has a supplemental voter file for other people who are not eligible to vote in state and federal elections, you can add 16 and 17-year-olds’ registration information to the supplemental voter file. If your municipality does not already have a supplemental voter file, you can create one. The supplementary file should have the same file format as the standard voter file and should contain only the voters who are eligible to vote in municipal elections and are not eligible to vote in other elections.
Another factor is whether your state allows people who are under 18 to register to vote before they turn 18, a process called pre-registration. California, Colorado, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Hawaii, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Utah, Virginia and Washington allow registration beginning at age 16. Maine, Nevada, New Jersey and West Virginia have pre-registration at age 17.
If your state has pre-registration, the people who are pre-registered can vote in your municipal elections. You can request a list of pre-registered voters who are under 18 from your county or the other appropriate election authority. Make a plan to reach out to those pre-registered voters to let them know they are eligible to vote in the upcoming municipal election.
Reaching out to eligible voters
Outreach for Vote 16 legislation is most effective in partnership with community spaces, such as high schools, locally sponsored events, and community centers. When partnering with schools, make sure you ask for a list of students who are eligible to vote under Vote 16 so that you can reach out and encourage them to register to vote. You can also work with local schools and community organizations by publicizing Vote 16 through school newspapers, school events such as pep rallies, and outreach through school guidance counselors and administrators. You can also partner with community organizations like the League of Women Voters – many local chapters have active registration programs for high school students.
In the time leading up to election day, you should also consider reaching out to registered voters and pre-registered voters to make sure they know that they are eligible to vote in the upcoming election. For states that have same-day registration, you can also reach out more broadly to eligible voters in case someone would like to register and vote on Election Day.
Ensuring equity
It is important that people eligible to vote under Vote 16 have a positive experience at the polling place when they arrive to vote on Election Day. For municipalities that have their elections on a day separate from state and federal elections, ensuring equity is simple since all voters receive the same ballot.
In municipalities where municipal and state/federal elections are held on the same day, more consideration is needed to ensure that everyone has a positive voting experience. On Election Day, voters that are 16 and 17-year-olds should not be treated differently than other voters – any feelings of inequity might decrease future turnout for these voters. As you plan your workflow for Election Day, think about what the experience should be like for voters under the age of 18 compared with other voters. Some municipalities have had success with having 16 and 17-year-olds filling out ballots in the same room as the rest of the voters – the key here is ensuring that there are no obvious differences in the appearances of the ballots. Other municipalities have a two-step process, with voters going into one room to cast their municipal ballot and moving to another to cast their county ballot.