Vote 17 Lowell — still working at setting an example for the rest of the country. We were very happy to be featured in the The New York Times Upfront magazine for students all across the country to read about our efforts to lower the voting age in Lowell!

from the Free Library

In 2009, city budget cuts forced the layoff of dozens of teachers and the elimination of several classes at Lowell High School, in Lowell, Massachusetts. That didn’t sit well with some Lowell students, who decided to do something about it. 

First on their agenda? Winning the right to vote in the city’s municipal elections so they could help choose the school board. 

Three years later, after intensive lobbying by the students, a bill to lower the voting age from 18 to 17 in Lowell’s elections is being debated in the Massachusetts State House in Boston. (Although the U.S. Constitution says 18-year-olds must be permitted to vote, states can set a lower voting age, even for presidential elections, at least in theory.)