some State lawmakers believe one way to boost voter turnout during elections is by lowering the voting age a proposal moving through Trenton would allow some 17-year-olds to cast a ballot in primary elections if they turn 18 by the general election a senior correspondent Joanna Gagis reports New Jersey could join a number of other states that have already enacted a similar law but it wouldn't be until after our next big election we're allowing them to participate in the Democracy right they're not just voting for people that were selected for them in the primaries they get to actually choose for themselves that would be the result if a bill sponsored by Senators Andrews wicker and James Beach clears the Senate allowing for young voters who will turn 18 by the general election to vote in the primary election while they're still 17 we don't get a lot of turnout and primary votes as it is um New Jersey has so many non-contested districts that often times the winner of the primary goes on to win the general and so by not being involved in the primary you're kind of being left out of a very important step both Maudy Vargas and Nancy hedinger testified in a hearing of the state government wagering tourism and historic preservation committee last week where they reminded Senators that 19 other states and DC have passed similar laws insisting that allowing younger people to vote early actually has a lasting impact on Democracy we see that in that age group 18 to 24 that's that's very low voter turnout and it's because it it's a it's a transitional time in their lives whereas if you introduce it while they're still in school it becomes a part of their curriculum a part of their Civics education and so much research shows that once you start voting uh you vote once you're 10 times more likely to vote in the next few elections this bill is actually nothing new it was introduced eight years ago when Senator Andrews wicker was serving in New Jersey assembly I wrote the Bill in 2016 made it through both houses and it was vetoed by then Governor Chris Christie in his message he called it potentially unconstitutional that's not true uh we had checked to make sure of course it's constitutional when he moved to the Senate Senator Beach allowed zwicker to take the lead on the bill that just cleared committee unanimously it did pass through the assembly this may along party lines so why the resistance from some Republicans to expanding the voting age there had been some concern back then that younger people tended to vote Democratic uh we've seen some shift in young people right now but there's no partisanship to this it is purely an age thing research across the country does not show that 17y olds are more likely to vote for one party over another um this is completely about getting you know the young young voters involved Governor Murphy says he'll sign the bill if it reaches his desk but ask that it be amended to delay implementation until 2026 what has he communicated to you about the reason why he wants to delay the implementation until 2026 making that by the way 10 years since you first wrote the Bill there's some concern that adding something to our Pro our voting process and our computer systems we've done early voting we have done expanded vote by mail they wanted to make make sure that they get this right it'll mean that 17-year-olds who miss the primary deadline will have to sit out on the 2024 presidential primary and 2025 gubernatorial primary these are two very important elections happening back toback it it would be it's it's shameful that they aren't trying to enact this as quickly as possible but despite that disappointment Advocates are hopeful this bill clears the full Senate during the lame duck session although no vote has been scheduled yet I'm Joanna Gagis NJ Spotlight News