UPDATE: Good news!
BREAKING: 17 year olds WILL be allowed to vote for a presidential candidate in Ohio's primary on Tuesday. https://t.co/cMMQC3T78a
— ellie merritt (@EllieNBC4) March 11, 2016
This is beyond stupid. Governing Magazine:
Nine 17-year-olds, including one from Toledo, sued Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted Tuesday over his office's refusal to allow them to vote in the presidential race in next week's primary election.
The lawsuit contends the state's chief elections officer, a Republican, has misinterpreted state law allowing 17-year-olds to vote in primary elections if they will be 18 by the time of the November general election.
Mr. Husted determined that because voters are electing convention delegates rather than nominating candidates in the primary, 17-year-olds cannot vote in the presidential race. They can vote in U.S. Senate, state legislative, judicial, and other races on the same ballot in which candidates are nominated, but not elected at this stage.
The suit, filed on the teens' behalf by the nonpartisan Fair Elections Legal Network in Washington, claims Mr. Husted has confused county boards of elections. Some have allowed 17-year-olds to vote. Others have set those ballots aside with the understanding the presidential votes will not be counted.
Although not a party to the suit, the Ohio Democratic Party applauded it. The League of Women Voters of Ohio has urged Mr. Husted to reconsider his position. The dispute appears to come down to the definition of "nominating" or "electing" presidential delegates.
We are not talking about lowering the voting age to 17, here. This is the situation my son is in here in Illinois: he will be 18 in November during the general election, so he is allowed to vote in the primary to decide the candidate of his chosen political party. (I can tell you he is not a Trump voter.)
Remember, we're talking about nominees for the political parties here. No one elected is going to serve in a governmental capacity, so why not leave it up to the parties who gets to choose their candidate? If the Democrats don't mind a 17 year old (who will be 18 to vote in the general election) having a say in who the general election candidates are.
So what is the problem? Republicans don't like young people to get in the habit of voting. So rather than just voting for the candidate of their choice, these Ohio 17 year olds are getting a lesson in suing the Secretary of State for Ohio. And a life-long lesson in which party cares for their constitutional rights. Civics, anyone?
