Panel hears measures to lower Oregon voting age

By PETER WONG
Oregon Capital Bureau

When he was elected at age 27 in 2019, Ben Bowman was the youngest member of the Tigard-Tualatin School Board.

Now, as a newly elected state representative from Tigard, Bowman is a chief sponsor of legislation that would make it possible for 16- and 17-year-olds to vote in school board elections.

A 2010 graduate of Tualatin High School and later a staffer for Rep. Margaret Doherty of Tigard, who was in the Oregon House from 2009 to 2021, Bowman has relied on young people to get elected and to write policy. He remains on the school board after one year as its chair. He challenged an incumbent for the Oregon Senate but lost the primary in 2020. He won an open seat in the House on Nov. 8.

“I can say with confidence that those students and many of their peers were far more engaged and aware of district governance, finance and operations than many voters,” Bowman said Tuesday at a hearing by the House Rules Committee.

“In my view, allowing 16- and 17-year-olds to vote is the best form of civic education. Allowing students the opportunity to participate in school board elections — a nonpartisan local election that directly impacts their educational experience — is an excellent place for them to begin developing good voting habits.”

Though no state has yet allowed what Bowman and others propose to do in House Bill 3206, a few communities have, including Takoma Park, Maryland, a suburb of Washington D.C., back in 2013. Voters in Berkeley, California, did so in 2016, and in Oakland, California, in 2020, but those measures have not yet been put into effect by the county that includes those cities.

The Oregon measure would limit voting to school board positions, not bonds or tax levies. Current law requires board members to be at least age 18.

Students now are limited to public comments at school board meetings, or in some instances, nonvoting membership on the boards.

Sen. Janeen Sollman, a Democrat from Hillsboro, is also a chief sponsor of the bill. She said it would allow 16- and 17-year-olds to do more than just voice their opinions on issues important to them, but often unheard by older adults.

Sollman, a former Hillsboro School Board member, said:

“We hear it in their calls to protect the environment for their future. We hear it when they ask us to protect them from the horrors of gun violence. We hear it when they say overwhelmingly that greater mental health supports are the No. 1 thing they want to see in their schools. We hear it when students are asking us to provide them more career and technical education opportunities for their future.

“Having high school students voice their positions with their vote is powerful and could increase their political and civic engagement … With this policy, Oregon would be bridging the youth-adult divide while also improving our education system.”

Other measures

The House committee also heard testimony on two related measures. House Bill 2694 would allow 17-year-olds to cast ballots in party primaries if they turn 18 by the general election, and if the political party they affiliate with permits them to by rule. House Joint Resolution 20 would amend the Oregon Constitution to lower the voting age from 18 to 16, and would require voter approval at the next general statewide election in November 2024.

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, Oregon is one of 15 states that allow 16- and 17-year-olds to preregister to vote — Oregon set the minimum age of 17 back in 2007, and age 16 in 2017 — but they must turn 18 by election day to cast ballots. Four states set a higher minimum preregistration age than is still under 18.

The sole sponsor of HB 2694 is House Speaker Dan Rayfield, D-Corvallis.

Proposals to lower the voting age to 16 are not new. As a state senator in 2019, Shemia Fagan — now Oregon secretary of state — sponsored a similar resolution that was heard by a Senate committee but did not advance.

No state allows general voting by 16- and 17-year-olds. The Oregon Legislature did lower the voting age from 21 to 18 in 1971, but it was just ahead of the ratification of the 26th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which set the national standard at age 18.

Oregon’s governor at the time was Tom McCall, a Republican who served from 1967 to 1975.

“He would have been a champion of this initiative,” said Devon Lawson-McCourt, a 15-year-old student at McKenzie River Community school in Blue River and a relative of McCall, whose mother was Dorothy Lawson..

“He was a leader who pushed for change that would improve the lives of all Oregonians, regardless of party affiliation. He understood the importance of civic responsibility and education, and he worked tirelessly to create policies that would ensure Oregonians were well represented. This is a continuation of that legacy.”

Support from officials

Rep. Hoa Nguyen, D-Portland, is a sponsor of both the constitutional amendment and the school-board measure. She is a student and community engagement specialist for Clackamas Education Service District and a former Portland Public Schools employee. She also sits on the David Douglas School Board.

“They are ready for the responsibilities of voting,” Nguyen said.

“They fully recognize that the decisions we as their elected leaders make today will have very real consequences for them and for the rest of their lives.”

Rebecca Stavenjord, a Milwaukie city councilor, also testified for the 16-year-old vote.

“When young people are given an opportunity to participate in decision-making and civic activities, they are more likely to become lifelong voters and active members of their communities,” she said. “By lowering the voting age, we can also help foster a more informed and engaged electorate that is better equipped to tackle complex issues in our society.”

Also speaking for the constitutional amendment and school-board measure were Isabela Villarreal of Next Up Action Fund, which began in 2001 as the Bus Project, and Chris Odom of REAP Inc., a multicultural leadership development program.

Critics speak out

But not all the testimony was supportive.

Brad Dennis of Albany said the committee should take no action. He referred to research about teenage brains not being fully developed until people are in their 20s — and that there is a reason why states limit sales of alcohol, tobacco and marijuana (in states that have legalized it) to people 21 and up.

Rep. E. Werner Reschke, R-Klamath Falls, mentioned those legal limitations plus minimum age requirements for driving a vehicle or serving in the armed forces. (Oregon, like many states, provides for graduated licenses that restrict young drivers under age 18, such as when they can drive and how many passengers they can carry.)

He decried what he called “an expansion of rights with no corresponding responsibilities.”