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Students urge Livingston council to consider ordinance lowering local voting age to 16
Summary
A student delegation and legal advisers asked the Livingston Township Council to begin drafting an ordinance to lower the municipal and school-board voting age to 16, citing local student turnout data and a legal opinion that municipalities can expand local voting eligibility.
A group of Livingston High School students and civic partners asked the Livingston Township Council on June 8 to begin formal work on an ordinance or charter amendment to lower the voting age to 16 for municipal and school-board elections.
Myra Dhavan, a 16-year-old sophomore and founding leader of the Civic Creation Circle, framed the request as "Give Livingston students a seat at the table with a vote in our local elections," and described student engagement: the club's internal votes and school election turnout that, she said, show measurable engagement.
Heather Rickner, associate counsel with the Democracy and Justice Program at the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice, told council members a legal analysis finds municipalities in New Jersey have authority to lower the voting age for local elections and that such measures would not conflict with the state constitution or Title 19, citing Newark's January 2024 ordinance lowering schoolboard voting age as a local precedent. "After a thorough legal analysis, we have concluded that an ordinance or charter amendment to lower the voting age to 16 would not conflict with New Jersey Constitution or New Jersey election laws in Title 19," Rickner said.
Student presenters including Alan Yar, Naja Petresky and Anukica Raj described local polling and Student Government election turnout data showing higher participation among older high-school students; Yar said sophomores and juniors had turnout rates between 63% and 80% in recent SGA elections. The student group said they have begun outreach, will circulate a community petition this summer and requested continued meetings with council and the town attorney to draft a local ordinance.
Council members thanked the students for their research and participation and indicated a willingness to continue conversations and coordinate with the Board of Education and town counsel to explore legal and administrative steps.
No ordinance was introduced or voted on at the June 8 meeting; the students requested the council start the drafting process and engagement with stakeholders.
