The City Council meeting on June 22, 2026 took care of some basic but important municipal housekeeping. The council has set the election for local offices – city council and school board – for November 3, 2026. Two seats are open on the council, and three on the school board.
Less routine was City Clerk in Jeremy Bocchino setting the standards to “place on the ballot a proposed Charter Amendment regarding lowering the voting age to 16 for city and school district elections.” While the measure had already been approved to be on the ballot at the Feb. 9, 2026 city council meeting, this was about the details of how to name it and frame it.
Vote 16, which came to a narrow defeat on it’s first time on the ballot in 2022, failed to qualify for the subsequent election, and has now met the bar to be voted on in November.
From a original efforts of a national group, Vote16USA, that launched in 2015, cities across the country have voted on proposals to approve local voting for 16 year olds. In California, the cities of Oakland and Berkeley both extend the franchise to 16 and 17 year olds.
It was only in 1971 that the federal voting age was lowered from 21 to 18, partly as a response to the draft for the Vietnam War. Since 18 year old men were subject to the Army, the 24th Amendment to the Constitution gave the right to vote to all 18 year olds.
Philip Lilyveld spoke from the podium with a presentation to the council, noting that research shows that what psychologists call “cold cognition”—meaning a person’s judgment in situations that allow for unhurried decision-making and consultation with others—is likely to be just as developed in 16-year-olds as in adults. While a person’s “hot cognition,” meaning their judgment in high-pressure or emotional situations, tends not to mature until later. Asking the council to remove the item from consideration, he deemed it to be “a mistake.”
Jack Galanty took the point of view that “Students should be able to vote for the school board….they don’t have a lot of options, other than ASB (Associated Student Body) to exercise power.”
While the measure was already approved to be on the ballot the council still needed to vote.
The council had to discuss renaming the measure, and ended on simply flipping the letters to make it Measure YV; in 2022, it had been on the ballot as Measure VY.
The motion was bifurcated, and while all members voted to approve the election, both Council member Albert Vera, Jr. and Council member Dan O’Brien voted against putting Measure VY on the ballot.
August 7, 2026 is the deadline for additional measures to be submitted to the city for the election.
Judith Martin-Straw
