By Tampa Bay's 10
Published April 12th 2007 in Tampa Bay's 10.com
Tampa, Florida - Getting a driver's license is one of the biggest rites of passage for teenagers.
Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections Buddy Johnson would like to see that event accompanied by an even more important rite of passage: the right to vote.
Johnson is working with members of the Florida Legislature to develop legislation to make 16-year-olds eligible to pre-register to vote. Current Florida law allows young people to vote at the age of 18 and to pre-register to vote at 17.
Under Johnson’s proposal, the age to pre-register would be lowered to 16 years. The lower age would permit 16-year-old persons to be eligible to pre-register to vote at the time they obtain their Florida drivers license.
The proposal would not automatically pre-register 16-year-olds who obtain a driver’s license but would make persons 16 years of age eligible to register to vote.
Then, once they are registered, the young adults would receive a voter registration card in the mail on their 18th birthday -- no additional sign-up would be necessary.
"Most teens consider a driver's license their first -- and most exciting -- step to freedom. I want to make it easier for them to take another exciting step toward freedom by pre-registering to vote as they get their driver's license," said Johnson.
The Hillsborough Supervisor of Elections has worked with members of the Florida Legislature to include the idea in this year's election package and welcomes participation by other organizations and individuals who want to see young people more involved and responsible.
"With a little luck, the idea will be included in this year's legislation," added Johnson.
Johnson already has pushed voter registration among teens with his High School Voter Registration & Education Program.
Through a partnership with the Hillsborough County School Board, his office has registered or pre-registered some 6,000 county high school students to vote -- including almost 600 students in the past couple of weeks.
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.