After the Democrat-controlled state Legislature overrode the Republican governor’s veto of the Brattleboro charter revision, sixteen- and seventeen-year-olds in one Vermont town will be allowed to vote in municipal elections.
“This may stem the tide of youth moving out of town,” said Kurt Daims, director of Brattleboro Common Sense, in a statement.
Vermont Voting Process
“As I said last year, I believe it is important to encourage young Vermonters to have an interest in issues affecting their schools, their communities, their state, and their country,” he wrote in a letter to lawmakers.
The youth vote, according to Brattleboro representative Emilie Kornheiser, is a crucial method for young people to feel invested in current events and to continue voting as a result.
“Vermont is an aging state and we’re a state that really prides ourselves on democracy and participation,” she said.
“I think the more we can do to bring youth into that process so that they learn the skills and practice the skills of participation and politics……the stronger our communities will be and the more I think folks will feel tied to their communities,” Kornheiser emphasized.
While its passage “will bring a new wave of civically engaged youth up through their teenage years,” said Rio Daims, who first began working on the youth vote campaign in 2018 when she was 16, the legislative process “should not have taken so long.”
Support for initiative
Daims observed that Brattleboro residents overwhelmingly supported the initiative. She bemoaned the removal of the right to serve on the school board from the original amendment that Brattleboro voters had approved, which was eventually included.
Given that school is one of the most important aspects of a teen’s life, I believe this amendment’s provision is crucial. High school students don’t have much control over decisions at school, and they ought to,” she wrote in an email.
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