The City Council plans to allow 16 and 17-year-olds to be eligible to vote in the upcoming 2025 election using ranked-choice voting.
Ranked-choice voting is an election method that voters use to rank candidates for an office in order of their preference.
Board of Election member, Lynea Cooper-Pitts, found no compelling evidence of ranked-choice voting being an option for voters, but it could be possible it would amend the city’s code, which states that a person must be at least 18 years old to be registered to vote.
“There is a lack of compelling evidence that rank-choice voting may increase the number of candidates or increase the voter turnout,” said Board of Election Supervisor Lynea Cooper-Pitts at the City Council meeting on Sept. 17.Â
Cooper-Pitts emphasized that the issue of 16- and 17-year-olds who do not possess a valid driver’s license or state identification can make the voting process challenging as it is required for the voting process.
In January 2024, the board sent out a survey about various methods to increase participation from voters and candidates entering an election race. It is known as the Vote 16 Campaign, which aims to lower the voting age and encourage new local campaigns on a national level.
Its connection with the board aims to lower the age requirement for voting and encourage more candidates to run for office.
The Center for Democracy and Civil Engagement at the University of Maryland would assist in bringing voters to the campaign website.
“With this Vote 16 Campaign, we would need to employ a solid education campaign, so new voters would understand what their rights would be, so that new voters would understand what the issues are,” Cooper-Pitt said.
Cooper-Pitt emphasized the importance of council assistance in allowing this legislation to pass by the January 2025 elections.Â
Additionally, she proposed voting by mail. It would provide the 14,500 registered voters in the city an opportunity to review the ballot and learn more about the candidates.
It would allow voters to review the ballot and learn more about their candidates.
The vote-by-mail process would increase the cost of elections compared to previous years, but would show a 20% increase in the number of voters who participate in the election. Additionally, in the previous election, there was a 10% increase in the participation rate, but Cooper-Pitt and the board aim for a more substantial representation of the population.
“We would like to bring that up more,” Cooper-Pitt said.
Cooper-Pitt recalls that in the 2023 election, there were 14,428 registered voters in the city of College Park, which is 41% of the population.
Moreover, she explains the process of how these ballots would be mailed and inspected for validity by the City’s Clerk’s Office. If anything fails during the ballot-mailing process, there is an opportunity to fix it.
Cooper-Pitts emphasized that Vote 16 and the vote-by-mail option will be put on hold until the council makes a decision in Jan. and Feb. 2025.
“Vote 16 is logistically fusible,” Cooper-Pitt said, “so we can put into place… a successful election in 2025.”