Rules committee advances Vote16 charter amendment, schedules further hearings and outreach

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors Rules Committee on June 8 advanced a charter amendment to allow 16- and 17-year-olds to vote in municipal elections and expanded the proposal to include School District and City College board contests, while directing further public outreach and additional hearings before setting a final ballot date.

Chair Supervisor John Avalos opened the committee’s hearing and said the item grew from a year-long effort with the youth commission. Youth commissioners and supporters presented research and local data arguing that earlier enfranchisement would increase long-term turnout and civic engagement. “We are here to share our research about the benefits of lowering the voting age to 16,” said Emani Davis, District 10 Youth Commissioner, introducing the youth presenters.

Presenters cited comparative examples in other countries and a handful of U.S. cities, and told the committee that Census-based estimates place roughly 13,000 16–17-year-olds in the city; presenters said a city controller estimate suggested the immediate electorate would grow by about 1 percent but that long-term turnout effects could be larger. Josh (District 11) described international and municipal cases where early voting increased youth participation and argued the change would help create “lifelong voters.”

Committee members raised operational and legal questions. Deputy City Attorney John Gibner reminded the committee that state law bars people imprisoned for a felony or on parole from voting, so any extension would not include youth incarcerated for felonies; the clarification left open procedures for youth incarcerated for non-felonies. John Irish, director of elections, estimated an initial implementation cost of around $90,000 and outlined practical steps the department would need to take (ballot design options, registration database changes and voter guide adjustments), while noting a statewide voter-registration database planned for 2016 could affect long-term implementation.

Public commenters — many of them youth commissioners or former commissioners — urged the committee to move forward. Adele Fields Carpenter, director of the youth commission, asked for a program of outreach and off-site hearings to engage students during the school year and recommended placing the question on the November 2016 ballot to maximize public participation.

Supervisor Avalos moved an amendment to schedule further hearings and to set the ballot placement for November 2016, and to expand the charter language to include San Francisco Unified School District and City College board elections; the motion was seconded and accepted without objection. The committee did not record a roll-call vote. The item will return to the committee at the call of the chair for additional hearings and outreach work.

What’s next: the committee will schedule off-site hearings and additional public outreach; the motion adopted by the committee moves the charter amendment forward for consideration by the full board and for placement on a future ballot if the Board votes to do so.