well students as young as 16 years old could be casting a ballot in New Jersey if a bill recently introduced gets approved the new legislation would allow 16 and 17y olds to vote in Schoolboard elections across the state following in the footsteps of Newark which passed an ordinance in January if the bill makes it over the Finish Line New Jersey would be the first state in the nation to lower the voting age for School Board elections and as Raven Santana reports potentially engage younger voters to be part of the process I believe that this move will ensure the voices of my peers n students are not only acknowledged but also valued in decisions that directly influence the education receive in our future 17-year-old bana Campbell a junior at Newark Science Park High School testified in front of the city council back in January Campbell joined her class meet 17-year-old Nathaniel esting in urging them to lower the voting age for school board elections to 16 the ordinance passed and now they want to see it expand across the state for other students oh I would say this is important because it just ensures that our voices are heard as 16 year olds and 17 year olds because um we go to school every day we're aware of what happens around us and if there's something we want to change or fix we should be able to have a say it and vote directly on it I feel like um it lowkey motivates parents because if they see that the children are voting then there going to be like oh maybe we should get up and vote because we already saw a very low voter voting turnout this year even though students were being pushed to vote the next year newark's law lowering the voting age in Schoolboard elections goes into effect in 2025 and now a new bill introduced in Trenton on Monday is mirroring the ordinance it would allow 16 and 17 year olds to vote in School Board elections across the state so we've been part in partnership with the New Jersey Institute for social justice and also the vote 16 movement with our fellows bana and Nate who have been really actively in involved Amanda iosia is CEO of the gem project the nonprofit organization provides year-long social justice paid fellowships for both high school students and college students to address different issues of inequities across education criminal justice and health not even just our fellows but also young people throughout the nor um Community they've really been having a lot of different conversations and been excited about this particular new responsibility cities are allowed to independently like pass the right for 16-year-olds to vote in school board election so this is something that's already in play so Newark has already passed this bill it'll be implemented next year but what this bill is doing is it's saying that every 16-year-old in the entire state will now have the right to vote and so it is a historic bill um the governor of New Jersey supports it which is huge this is the first time in American history that something like this is happening and so we are watching democracy change right in front of our eyes musab Ali is a consultant for vote 16 USA which in partnership with the New Jersey Institute for social justice is amplifying student-led movements to lower the voting age to 16 in local elections he first ran for office when he was 19 and got elected when he was 20 in Jersey City the youngest person elected in the city's history since then he says he's continue to motivate young people to access power through voting and democracy I think jenzy is actually one of the most educated and most well-connected Generations um ever I mean through social media through the ways that they get information and actually think look it's important for them to be involved in Democratic process right like why aren't we giving students a chance to talk about their education and what's happening and students I spoke with say they now hope by encouraging you to vote they in turn will create lifelong voters so learning while they're young is just it pushes them earlier and allows them to make more educated decisions in elections in general if passed New Jersey would be the first state in the nation to enact such a law an identical bill is expected to be introduced in the assembly this week for NJ Spotlight new news on Raven Santana