‘Young people need to have a voice’: WA high schooler makes the case for 16-year-old voters

A high school student, Donovan Jojola, recently wrote an article advocating for 16-year-olds in Washington to be allowed to vote, citing that many in the age group are impacted daily by policies made by those in positions of power, and 16-year-olds should have a say in where those regulations land.

Speaking on “The John Curley Show” on KIRO Newsradio, Jojola pointed to an eager group of 16-year-olds who are passionate about having their voices heard, whether in a general or local election, despite prevailing narratives of low younger voter turnout.

“I think that a ton of 16-year-olds are extremely passionate about what’s going on, even in local elections, and the data shows us that there’s some really strong turnout among 16-year-olds when they’re allowed to vote,” Jojola said. “I think that, especially with how involved this generation is, 16-year-olds would definitely show up to the polls, and there would be an extremely strong turnout among young voters.”

High schooler says young people are passionate, mobilized, and being left out of the conversation

Jojola then detailed why he believes voter turnout among the younger generation has been lacking in the past, but believes 16-year-olds have an urge to show up at the polls.

“I think a lot of young people feel extremely disengaged with our system,” Jojola said. “I think civic education is lacking in a lot of places, especially in our public school system. I think plenty of high schoolers are taught, maybe, what a senator and representative are, but aren’t taught that they can really change the system. I don’t believe a lot of young people are really taught that they can have an impact.

“A lot of young people are very pessimistic about the world now, especially those right around 18 to 20, especially on a federal scale, they think, ‘What’s my vote going to do?'” Jojola continued. “A lot of 16-year-olds are really in that range where they want to show up, and they’re very mobilized already.”

Curley asked if Jojola would advocate for additional government involvement in younger people’s lives and if he would want to see them provide more services for the younger generation.

“Especially with the way that the government is doing it right now, it’s not working a lot for a lot of young people, especially with seeing how the state manages education,” Jojola said. “As a young person, I do like to see a lot of government opportunities being provided. I do like to see those systems being put in place to allow a lot of young people to succeed. However, I think that allowing young people to vote and allowing young people to have a voice in those decisions comes first before putting all these systems in place. I think that young people need to have a voice if we’re going to have government being extremely involved in young people’s lives.”

Watch the full discussion in the video above.

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