Commentary by Nathan Whitman
Earlier this week, Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted ignored a 35 year precedent in Ohio and announced that 17 year olds who will be 18 at the time of the general election will not be allowed to vote in this upcoming primary election. Secretary Husted has released a statement addressing this issue by stating that 17 year olds would be allowed to vote in this upcoming primary, with some exceptions: according to Husted, 17 year olds will only be allowed to vote on issues in which they are nominating a candidate, not electing.
I wish I could say I was shocked when I heard of Husted’s decision in restricting voting rights for another voting bloc. Their recent efforts to implement more restrictive voting rights has had a tremendous negative impact on minorities and lower income individuals from being eligible to practice their constitutional right to participate in elections. This is just another example of Ohio Republicans wanting to keep the voting process as exclusive as possible.
Political pundits are quick to point out that the youth typically vote for the Democratic party. But what Husted doesn’t realize is this affects the Republican party as well. At a time when political apathy is at its highest and voter turnout is reaching its lowest, the last thing the state of Ohio should do is keep energized and engaged youth from practicing a right that Ohio has afforded them since 1981 for either political party. I encourage Jon Husted and the state of Ohio in reconsidering this inaccurate interpretation of Ohio law and help bring forth a new generation of political activism from our nation’s youth to help lead our nation to a better tomorrow.
