Sonali Mascarenhas-Swan was the symbolic first youth voter of the day Wednesday.
A group of 20 or 25 people watched as she strode to the official ballot box across the street from Berkeley High School around 4:15 p.m. She inserted her early ballot, then threw her arms in the air in celebration as the small crowd applauded and cheered.
Students 16 and 17 years old can now vote in Berkeley Unified School District board elections. Same for students in the Oakland Unified School District.
The cities are the first in California to register high schoolers under 18 to help decide who serves on their respective school boards.
Within the United States, only five small municipalities in Maryland (with a combined total population of about 80,000) permit youth voting, according to the Berkeley district.
Fittingly, it was voters who decided to make the historic move, with more than 70% of voters approving Measure Y1 in Berkeley in 2016 and two-thirds of Oakland voters approving Measure QQ in 2020 with about two-thirds support of Oakland voters.
The Alameda County Registrar of Voters is using California’s pre-registration system to register students as a “youth voter.” Any 16-or-17-year-old residing in Oakland or Berkeley who previously pre-registered to vote will be automatically registered as a youth voter.
Wednesday’s gathering was aimed at registering students as they got out of school for the day. Others used the nearby drop box to officially vote for the first time.
Beginning of a ‘long game’
The city has worked with the school district to educate students on the process and encourage them to use their newfound voter rights.
“A bunch of these students have been trained and worked really hard over the last six weeks to understand the whole process of voting and doing outreach, and now it’s time to vote,” said Nina Goldman from the Berkeley Youth Equity Partnership. “Our initiative focuses on African American, Black and Latinx young people. So most of the people who we train and work with are really trying to get the vote out in that population, but we’re happy to have anyone vote.”
Goldman said, as of Wednesday afternoon, 438 Berkeley High students registered to vote.
“They’re voting about the school board. These are the issues that affect them every single day right?” Goldman said. “Many of the adult voters who vote in this community have nothing to do with schools, yet they’ve been selecting our school board members for a very long time.
“What we do know from various studies is that, if you’ve got kids voting early, they’re much more likely to participate in elections down the road. So it’s a long game,” she said.
Mascarenhas-Swan said she’s part of the school’s youth in government organization, which helps educate students on topics like legislative processes.
“I’m very passionate about civic engagement, especially within our youth,” she said. “I think it’s really empowering for people just because it’s the first time in our history that we get the chance to vote. I think people are really excited about it. I know a lot of people were participating a lot more than a lot of the adults.”
Mascarenhas-Swan discounted the idea that high school students aren’t mature enough to understand the issues. It’s just a matter of educating them.
First: Berkeley High School student, Sonali Mascarenhas-Swan, 16, celebrates after voting for the first time. Last: Berkeley High School senior, Abby Schwarz, 17, registers a student voter in Berkeley, Calif., on Oct. 16, 2024. (Tony Hicks/Bay City News)
Berkeley High School senior, Abby Schwarz, 17, registers a student voter in Berkeley, Calif., on Oct. 16, 2024. 16- and 17-year-olds can vote for the Oakland Unified School District board members. (Tony Hicks/Bay City News)
“We need to put more work into educating people about who they are voting for because I think the first step is just getting people registered to vote at all,” she said. “That’s why we’re here doing this.”
Armana Aradom is a 16-year-old junior who has served as vice president of the school’s Black Student Union. She said she has met with a candidate, has studied the issues, and is ready to vote.
“This is directly impacting us, so I don’t believe that at any time, legislation should impact people without having a say,” Aradom said. “I think it’s super amazing that students are now able to vote in the school board election. And I really want to help students understand the importance of this action and help it get spread to the media.”
… If you’ve got kids voting early, they’re much more likely to participate in elections down the road. So it’s a long game.
Nina Goldman, Berkeley Youth Equity Partnership
Aradom said who better to decide on who makes decisions at the top of a school district than the people most affected by the decisions.
“A lot of times I would even argue that students are more qualified to be voting in this election than adults,” Aradom said. “Even just going to school every day, we see the impact. So I think that that argument (that students aren’t qualified to vote) is completely invalid because we face the impacts of what happened.”
She said, “It’s beautiful to be a part of this and I hope that other districts around the United States and the world can start implementing programs like this.”
Abby Schwarz, 17, sat at the registration table, helping students with forms. Then she and the rest of the get-out-the-vote team planned to take the effort directly to another group still on campus: the football team.
“We’re going around to different classes, clubs and sports teams to get people to register more easily,” Schwarz said. “We bring them the forms, we mail the forms for them. We’re going to go over to the football team to try to get as many people registered there as well.”
The deadline to register to vote in California is this coming Monday. Election Day is Nov. 5.
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