Huge Voting Age Coverage for NYRA

The last week has seen a huge amount of media attention for NYRA and the voting age issue. A bill proposed by California state senator John Vasconcellos (D- Santa Clara) would, if passed, give 16 year olds one half of a vote, and fourteen year olds one fourth of a vote. While this bill is by no means perfect, it is major progress for the Youth Rights movement. This bill, proposed one week after NYRA’s ground breaking voting age protest in Berkley CA, has led to a media frenzy the likes of which the Youth Rights movement has never seen. Articles on the voting age have appeared in several hundred newspapers, including the LA times and Christian Science Monitor. The bill was mentioned on CNN, the Tonight Show, the Daily Show, the BBC and on Friday March 12 NYRA’s president was interviewed by ABC news, a segment that appeared on the jumbotron in New York’s Times Square. The attention given by the media has led to a growth in membership, more traffic on the website, and far more awareness about youth rights.