Today is a vote-a-rama for the movement to lower the voting age with two Maryland towns taking up the issue at their meetings tonight. In Greenbelt, Maryland, the city council is voting on Resolution 2057 to lower the voting age to 16. After voters last month passed an advisory measure in favor of lowering the the voting age in Greenbelt, tonight’s meeting will enact the voter’s will.
This is very exciting and while we thought this would make Greenbelt the third city with a voting age of 16, it turns out that Glenarden, Maryland quietly lowered their voting age to 16 last year. Unfortunately, that progress is under threat as the new city council is voting tonight on a measure that would raise the voting age back to 18. NYRA members will be in attendance at the Glenarden meeting to try and stop Glenarden from disenfranchising current voters in the city.
If you would like to submit a comment in support of a 16-year-old voting age in Glenarden, please e-mail the council clerk. And if you are in the area, please attend the meeting and join NYRA in supporting youth suffrage. Tonight’s meeting begins at 7:30 PM, December 11, and is held at 8600 Glenarden Pkwy, Glenarden, MD 20706-1522.
