Bill would let 16-year-olds register to voteState Rep. Edwin Pacheco, D-Burrillville, has introduced a bill that would let 16-year-olds register to vote and make the registration active upon their 18th birthdays. Hawaii already allows this.
"I know this is going to help in engaging younger people and making them feel like part of the process," said Pacheco, a 24-year-old who was elected to the General Assembly two years ago.
State law allows 17-year-olds register to vote if they will turn 18 by the next election.
Pacheco crafted his bill with the help of FairVote, an initiative of the Maryland-based Center for Voting and Democracy.
Fair Vote director Robert Richie said early registration is part of an effort to increase overall voter registration. Less than three-fourths of American adults are registered to vote, and only one-third of adults under 25 are, he said.
Election Day '09 was a roller-coaster for election reformers. Instant runoff voting had a great night in Minnesota, where St. Paul voters chose to implement IRV for its city elections, and Minneapolis voters used IRV for the first time—with local media touting it as a big success. As the Star-Tribune noted in endorsing IRV for St. Paul, Tuesday’s elections give the Twin Cities a chance to show the whole state of Minnesota the benefits of adopting IRV. There were disappointments in Lowell and Pierce County too, but high-profile multi-candidate races in New Jersey and New York keep policymakers focused on ways to reform elections; the Baltimore Sun and Miami Herald were among many newspapers publishing commentary from FairVote board member and former presidential candidate John Anderson on how IRV can mitigate the problems of plurality elections.