Failed Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams believes the voting age should be lowered to 16 in some local elections to examine if allowing 16-year-olds to vote in federal election is feasible.
Abrams, who has also said she is not opposed to illegal immigrants voting in local elections, said she is not yet convinced that 16-year-olds should vote in federal elections, but she recently told Scholastic News that the voting age should be lowered to 16 for school board elections.
“I think we should test it out for local elections. I do believe we need to investigate lowering the voting age for federal elections, but I’m not convinced yet,” Abrams told the outlet. “I remember being 16. I remember how involved and engaged I was. While there certainly is a difference between being 16 and 18, I don’t know that the difference is wide enough to say that you should not be able to participate in federal elections, so I’m willing to be convinced.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) recently made headlines when she said she supported lowering the voting age to 16 to “capture kids when they are in high school.” Presidential candidates like Andrew Yang have also expressed support for lowering the voting age to 16.
Though Rep. Ayanna Pressley’s (D-MA) amendment to lower the voting age to 16 failed in the House, a majority of Democrats (125) voted for it. The final vote in the House was 305-126 against Pressley’s amendment.
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