Should Missouri lower the voting age to 16?

By Nomin Ujiyediin,

Published June 28, 2023 at 4:00 AM CDT

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A Kansas City teenager is leading a push to allow 16- and 17-year-olds to vote in city council and school board elections. DJ Yearwood says it would make voting a habit from an earlier age and create a "civic transition into adulthood."

Should 16-year-olds have a say in how their cities and schools are run? Kansas City teenager DJ Yearwood is the campaign director of Vote16MO, an initiative to lower the voting age in municipal and school board elections in Missouri. He says these kinds of local, nonpartisan elections give young people a unique opportunity to make change before they are asked to vote in national races dominated by the two major political parties. The group wants to get a measure on the ballot by November 2024.

KCUR's Steve Kraske spoke with Yearwood on Up To Date to learn more about what he hopes to accomplish.

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Kansas City Today is hosted by Nomin Ujiyediin. It is produced by Paris Norvell, Byron Love, and KCUR Studios, and edited by Gabe Rosenberg and Lisa Rodriguez.