skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Sunday, December 29, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Powerful thunderstorms threaten Texas and Louisiana, delaying holiday travel; Volunteers vital for meal delivery to older IL residents; Bald eagle gets official nod as Maine population soars; Tips to help avoid holiday scams.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Immigrants' advocates worry about Trump's mass deportation plans. Voters from both parties oppose ending the EPA's regulatory power. And older adults want lawmakers to lower prescription drug costs.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

From the unprecedented election season to the latest environmental news, the Yonder Report looks back at stories that topped our weekly 2024 newscasts.

Some Maryland Communities Lowering Voting Age to 16

play audio
Play

Tuesday, September 19, 2023   

Today is National Voter Registration Day and in addition to urging you to check your registration advocates are making the case for lowering the voting age.

While typically less attention is paid to voting in off-year elections, there are still ballots in many localities, and in some of those Marylanders as young as 16 can vote.

Five cities in Maryland allow 16- and 17-year-olds to vote in local elections. In November, voters in Rockville can participate in a nonbinding referendum on lowering the voting age to 16.

Alyssa Canty, director of youth programs for Common Cause, said young people are often beginning to see the effects of civic policy.

"When they're 16- or 17-year-olds, they are starting their first part-time jobs," Canty pointed out. "So they now have income, so they're purchasing things, so they are paying sales tax, but they have no say in what happens to those tax dollars."

At the state level, any Marylander can register at age 16 but cannot vote in state or federal elections until they reach 18.

Maryland state law permits city councils to lower the voting age at the local level, and so far Takoma Park, Greenbelt, Hyattsville, Riverdale Park and Mount Rainier have done so. In Somerset, 16-year-olds will be able to vote in local elections beginning next May.

Canty sees late high school as a good time to engage young people.

"Usually around 16, 17 years old, that junior, senior year of high school, that's also when you take your really in-depth civics class, and you learn about how the government works," Canty explained. "It's almost like experimental learning where you get to actually go and cast a ballot."

Canty noted as campaigns have spread across the country, they often see young people taking the lead on the issue.

"We have seen where young people are energized by this issue," Canty pointed out. "In many places, they're the ones that are on the forefront leading this work because they see themselves as being really impacted by local elections, by their school boards, by their city councils."

For more information on the effort, visit Vote16USA.org.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
The Farm Bill extension is in effect through Sept. 30, 2025, and includes nearly $31 billion in economic and disaster aid for farmers. (Adobe Stock)

Environment

play sound

Farmers in Wisconsin may be breathing a sigh of relief going into the new year with the farm bill extension but it may be temporary, as experts said …


Social Issues

play sound

More middle-aged and older South Dakotans had financial concerns this year, especially around health care, according to a new survey. Advocates for …

Social Issues

play sound

By Anya Petrone Slepyan for The Daily Yonder.Broadcast version by Roz Brown for New Mexico News Connection for the Public News Service/Daily Yonder Co…


Social Issues

play sound

Virginia's child welfare system grapples with a surge of unfounded reports that critics say stem from overly broad mandatory reporting laws, …

Olive, a poodle mix, has comforted more than 300 kids in Missouri's court system. (Photo courtesy of Therapy Paws)

Social Issues

play sound

A Missouri-based therapy dog has an inspiring journey that began as a homeless stray on the streets of Los Angeles. Olive, a ten-pound poodle mix…

Social Issues

play sound

California has more than 60,000 children in the foster care system and about 7,000 in extended care up to age 21 but many do not receive all the servi…

Social Issues

play sound

By Dwight Adams for Mirror Indy.Broadcast version by Joe Ulery for Indiana News Service reporting for the Mirror Indy-Free Press Indiana-Public News S…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021