Be informed, not surprised.
One week ago today, state Rep. Kam Buckner, D-Chicago, filed House Bill 4168. It’s a simple proposal with broad ramifications: amending the election code to lower the voting age – for only local and state elections – from 18 to 16.
A couple of caveats are in order. The most important is that filing a bill means just that and nothing more. The plan is closer to being a law than it was eight days ago, but only in the sense that turning on my car in the garage gets me closer to abusing the speed limit en route to the airport.
But for the purpose of this column, the other thing worth noting is this isn’t a new idea. I first wrote about the Illinois movement in March 2019, but it’s been legal for 16-year-olds to vote in municipal elections in Takoma Park, Maryland, since 2013. A national effort, Vote16USA, launched in December 2015, and the Illinois chapter organized the following August.
State Rep. Kelly Cassidy, D-Chicago, also is a supporter, although her past remarks suggested the narrower approach of changing state law to allow jurisdictions to opt in, which would only enfranchise young voters for city, school, library, park district and other local elections.
The 26th Amendment, adopted in 1971, lowered the minimum age for voting in federal elections to 18 but doesn’t prevent states or municipalities from expanding ballot access. Illinois has for several years allowed 17-year-olds to vote in federal primaries provided they will reach 18 before the general election.
Earlier this year lawmakers adopted Senate Bill 2123, letting 16-year-olds “preregister” so they’re automatically added to voter rolls upon turning 18. In celebrating that accomplishment, state Sen. Mike Simmons, D-Chicago, explained the prevailing attitude:
“The young have always played a key part in democracy,” Simmons said in a news release. “The younger generations show again and again how engaged they are in social issues – allowing them to pre-register sends a message to youth that their voices are important and allows them to take that activism to the polls.”
SB2123 was the same bill I wrote about Aug. 12 regarding creation of the Ranked Choice and Voting Systems Task Force, which has a report due in March. For now, the group is only evaluating ranked choice for presidential primaries, so it wouldn’t come into play until 2028 at the earliest.
HB4168 seems unlikely to move much faster, especially given the other ways Illinois could explore the change without forcing the issue statewide.
While leaving plenty of room to discuss the merits, the message today is simple: there are many steps before a revolutionary proposal comes before the full Legislature, which provides ample time to be informed and involved.
• Scott T. Holland writes about state government issues for Shaw Media. Follow him on Twitter @sth749. He can be reached at sholland@shawmedia.com.
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