Allow 16- and 17-year-olds to vote locally

Prop G allows 16- and 17-year-olds to vote in local elections. A New York Times investigation (written by my grad school colleague Alexandria Symonds) attributed low youth turnout---15 percentage points below overall turnout in 2016---to habit formation, opportunity cost, and alternative participation. Allowing young people to vote plausibly addresses each blocker:

• Many would be influenced by seeing their parents vote in a community they’re connected to, while having an opportunity to do so themselves, and would form habits around this early practice.
• High school students generally have more flexible schedules and less financial worry than young people in the workforce, reducing the opportunity cost of taking the time to vote.
• Their preexisting passion for politics can translate directly to voting, in addition to other forms of participation.

It also addresses part of each intervention cited by experts (bold verbatim):

• Short term: Get young people the specific information they need to register and make it to the polls. Parents and high schools can provide this information.
• Medium term: Work to reduce systemic barriers, especially to registration. A 2017 study found that “permitting future voters to preregister at age 16 or 17, making them automatically registered on their 18th birthday, increases both registration and turnout by 2.1 percentage points.” The chance to cast a real vote may increase the chances of this kind of pre-registration (California Prop 18, which would allow 17-year-olds to vote in primaries and special elections if they will be 18 by the next general election, could help too, and I recommend voting yes).
• Long term: Reimagine civics education. What better civics education than a senior class field trip to a polling location for a local election?

By raising youth---and thus lifelong---voter turnout, Prop G strengthens the bedrock of our democracy.