Culver City voters will decide if teens can cast ballots Nov. 3

Culver City residents will decide on November 3 whether to grant 16- and 17-year-olds the right to vote in city and school board elections.

The proposal, known as Measure YV, seeks to amend the city charter to include youth in municipal and school board contests. It would not extend voting rights to county, state, or federal elections.

This is the second attempt to lower the local voting age. A similar measure failed in 2022 by a margin of 16 votes. In that election, the initiative received 8,293 votes, surpassing the total for any single City Council candidate.

Arlo Meighan-Thiel, a 16-year-old junior at Culver City High School, is campaigning for the measure. He serves as a policy and advocacy leader for Vote16 Culver City, a lunchtime student group.

Meighan-Thiel, who plays pitcher and first baseman for the high school baseball team, spent last week canvassing neighborhoods to persuade neighbors to support the initiative. He argues that students are mature enough to make educated decisions.

"I feel really strongly that 16- and 17-year-olds are very capable to vote and make a calm, educated decision for a school board and city elections," Meighan-Thiel said.

The City Council voted 3 to 2 in February to place the measure on the November ballot. Vice Mayor Bryan Fish supported the effort, telling student activists that they are the present, not just the future.

Fish noted that city decisions on housing and climate change disproportionately affect young people. "The least we can do is let our young people have a seat at the table," he said.

Opponents argue that teens are too young to make reasoned choices and could be manipulated by adults. Five opponents, including former Mayors Göran Eriksson and Ed Wolkowitz, signed a statement in the voter guide describing students as a captive voting bloc.

The statement warned that teen contact information would become part of the public record. "Is that the school district you want?" the statement asked. "Do you want it to become a political football?"

Ed Wolkowitz, who served on the City Council from 1994 to 2002, called the measure unnecessary. "You have to have a cut-off date somewhere," he said. He is 77 years old.

Wolkowitz added that the measure might create challenges because not all students live within city limits. He suggested that young people can still advocate for their positions without holding a ballot. "They can work on campaigns. They can advocate their positions," he said. "They can do it without voting." Ron Bassilian, president of the political action committee Protect Culver City, said his group would pursue legal channels to access voter data if the measure passes. He described the move as opening Pandora's box. Bassilian, a Republican who ran for Congress in 2018, said progressive candidates have pushed their way into high schools. He argued that while teens share personal information on social media, they rarely list home addresses or phone numbers, which would become public records. A rebuttal signed by City Council member Yasmine-Imani McMorrin noted that California has allowed pre-registration for 16- and 17-year-olds since 2016. The rebuttal stated that state law limits access to voter information to specific purposes, and misuse is a crime. Adina Austin, a 17-year-old senior and vice president of Vote16 Culver City, changed her mind about the effort after attending lunchtime meetings. She cited recent budget cuts and staff reductions in the school district as reasons to seek a voice in local governance. "This isn't just meant to help teens," Austin said. "It's meant to help our country as a whole." If Measure YV passes, Culver City would join a small number of municipalities nationwide that allow under-18 voting. Takoma Park, Maryland, was the first city to lower its voting age to 16 in 2013. Berkeley became the first California municipality to do so for school board elections in 2016, followed by Oakland in 2020. Albany, California, passed a measure in 2024 to let 16- and 17-year-olds vote in all municipal elections. The Alameda County elections office said eligible youth voters in these three cities will receive vote-by-mail ballots for this year's school board elections. Vote16 Culver City is part of Vote16USA, a national organization funded by the New York-based Goodnation Foundation. The group supports youth-led campaigns to lower the voting age across the country.