Congratulations—Berkeley is turning over the school board to the students and unions.
“On Tuesday, Berkeley City Council adopted an ordinance in accordance with Measure Y1: a move to request the Alameda County Registrar of Voters to allow 16-and 17-year-olds to vote in school board races, beginning this November’s election season.
Measure Y1 was approved by Berkeley voters in the 2016 election. By a vote of 70.31%, the original measure moved to allow 16- and 17-year-old voters to vote in school board elections for the Berkeley Unified School District, or BUSD. Since then, however, it has yet to be implemented.
You can bet the union owned teachers will force (give extra credit) every student to vote. Then, they will force the kids to bring their ballots into the classroom for harvesting (extra credit). The union will make sure the students vote for the candidates they endorse. Will candidates be allowed to campaign in the classrooms? Why not?
Berkeley City Council ordinance to allow 16- and 17-year-olds to vote in school elections
Reena Alsakaji, Daily Californian, 7/12/24 https://www.dailycal.org/news/city/city-government/berkeley-city-council-ordinance-to-allow-16–and-17-year-olds-to-vote-in/article_9c4202a2-4023-11ef-a52f-93aa95a8ad1b.html
On Tuesday, Berkeley City Council adopted an ordinance in accordance with Measure Y1: a move to request the Alameda County Registrar of Voters to allow 16-and 17-year-olds to vote in school board races, beginning this November’s election season.
Measure Y1 was approved by Berkeley voters in the 2016 election. By a vote of 70.31%, the original measure moved to allow 16- and 17-year-old voters to vote in school board elections for the Berkeley Unified School District, or BUSD. Since then, however, it has yet to be implemented.
Now, eight years later, the City Council has approved an ordinance that pushes for the next step in this process — requesting the Alameda County Registrar of Voters to allow students to vote. According to Stefan Elgstrand, assistant to the mayor, the process thus far has been delayed due to technical and logistical issues with the registrar. According to Elgstrand, the registrar is currently in the process of finalizing its systems to allow for youth voting.
“This is a matter of expanding participation in our civic systems and ultimately expanding our democracy,” said Berkeley City Councilmember for District 4 Igor Tregub. “We should absolutely be able to entrust the youth with this decision — the Berkeley School Board Directors make policy decisions and impact every aspect of the youth’s ability to thrive within BUSD.”
According to Sarah Swanbeck, who conducted research for the Berkeley Institute for Young Americans regarding lowering the voting age, BUSD is one of the first districts in the country to allow 16- and 17-year-olds to vote in school board elections. According to the National Youth Rights Association, there are only six other locations that have lowered their voting age to 16, including Oakland.
Swanbeck said young voters in Berkeley have been waiting years to be able to cast a ballot. She noted that the move to allow for more youth voting reflects the belief that lowering the voting age will allow for higher Generation Z and Millennial turnout in later elections.
“Research shows that lowering the voting age, paired with the right civics education, could help create lifelong voting habits for young people,” Swanbeck said in an email. “At a time when so much is at stake for the country, it’s crucial that we think about concrete ways, like lowering the voting age, to improve the political participation of the largest voting bloc in the country.”
There is currently no clear timeline as to when the Alameda County Registrar of Voters will finalize its systems, but the goal is to have Berkeley youth vote in this upcoming election.
