Bill To Allow 17 Year Olds To Vote In Primaries Before Committee Today

State Representative Hubert Vo’s legislation to allow 17-year-old Texans to cast their ballots in primary elections as long as they will turn 18 by the following general election is scheduled to be debated for the first time tomorrow, Monday, March 15, in the Texas House, his office reports.

“The momentum is building behind this common-sense proposal to give young Texans a louder voice in our electoral system,” Vo said.  “I look forward to a full debate on the merits of this bill to make our democracy stronger.”

Vo’s HB 513 is scheduled to be heard Monday by the House Elections Committee at 2:00 PM or upon adjournment in Room E2.028 at the State Capitol in Austin.

The proposed change in state election law would make it possible for otherwise eligible voters in elections for state and county officials to register to vote in a primary election as long as they will be 18 years old on or before the date of the corresponding general election.  The measure would have to be approved in a statewide constitutional amendment this November, and the first primary election in which soon-to-be 18-year-olds could vote would be the general election on November 2, 2010.

Vo said he heard from countless young Texans during last year’s historic presidential election who were discouraged because they couldn’t participate in the spring primaries even though they would for the first time be old enough to vote in the general election.  The result, he said, is that many young people in the spring had no say in selecting their parties’ fall nominees.

Vo’s bill would not lower the state’s voting age.

About one dozen states currently allow 17-year-old primary voting, including Connecticut, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Mississippi, Nebraska, North Carolina, Ohio, and Virginia.

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