Holly Hargraves, left, and Wayne Williams Hargraves walk out of Ward 2 precincts A and B after voting at Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School in 2016 in Northampton.
Holly Hargraves, left, and Wayne Williams Hargraves walk out of Ward 2 precincts A and B after voting at Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School in 2016 in Northampton. Credit: GAZETTE FILE PHOTO

I was thrilled to see the Gazette’s front page article on May 22, which reported on the Charter Review Committee’s decision to recommend that Northampton lower its voting age for municipal elections to 16, for two reasons.

First, the article was exciting to see because of my personal work on the issue of lowering Northampton’s voting age. I’m a member of the mayor’s Youth Commission, a government body which represents the voice of Northampton’s youth, and have been working with the group on this issue for the past year. Seeing the success of a project I’ve worked hard on is very gratifying.

However, far more importantly, the charter panel’s move to lower the voting age in Northampton is a vital step to make our city more democratic and improve civic engagement.

Giving 16-year-olds suffrage in Northampton will give the city’s youth, an already engaged group, an even greater stake in our community. Teenagers will start to vote in high school, building good civic habits early on, and will make sure the youth’s voice is heard in municipal matters.

Opponents of lowering Northampton’s voting age will say that 16-year-olds do not have the intellectual maturity to vote. However, when making non-emotional decisions, teenagers have the same intellectual maturity as adults.

Northampton is especially lucky to have a young population that is engaged in their city’s government, and fighting every day to make a difference, as can be seen in monthly climate strikes, walkouts, and marches to demand gun control legislation and women’s rights, all led by young people.

Young people deserve to vote just as adults do. Teenagers work, pay taxes, and support their families, just as older people do. In fact, the largest part of the city’s budget goes to the school district. It makes simple sense students should be able to vote for the officials who decide how their schools are run.

All Northampton residents should be happy to learn that our city has taken its first step to adding an engaged, interested and civically active group of young people to its voter rolls.

Noah Kassis

Northampton