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Board opposes lowering BOE voting age, backs funding‑report amendment and divides on student voting rights

Howard County Board of Education · January 29, 2026
AI-Generated Content: All content on this page was generated by AI to highlight key points from the meeting. For complete details and context, we recommend watching the full video. so we can fix them.

Summary

At its Jan. 29 meeting the Howard County Board of Education voted to oppose a proposal to lower the voting age for BOE elections, supported a reporting amendment on minimum school funding, and deadlocked on extending voting rights to the student member of the board.

The Howard County Board of Education took multiple formal positions on local legislation during a long legislative report and discussion on Jan. 29.

After committee presentation, Dr. David Chen moved that the board oppose HOCO 5‑26, a Howard County bill to lower the voting age for Board of Education elections. The motion carried 6–2. Board members recorded their votes by roll call: Dr. Chen (yes), Ms. Ricks (yes), Ms. Watts (yes), Mr. Allister (no), Ms. McCoy (yes), Ms. Shambly (yes), Ms. Mosley (no), Ms. Mallow…

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