[EL] Vote 16 Research Network at University of Maryland

[Robin Chen]

Dear Election Law Listserv,

I'm forwarding this announcement about the Vote 16 Research Network at the
University of Maryland. Apologies if redundant.

Robin
RepresentMAchildren2020



*Contact Quinn Arthur Farah at qafarah at umd.edu <qafarah at umd.edu> and
Michael Hanmer at mhanmer at umd.edu <mhanmer at umd.edu> if you want to get
involved with the Vote 16 Research Network!  *

Info here (and below):
https://cdce.umd.edu/landingtopic/vote-16-research-network
https://spp.umd.edu/research-impact/projects/vote-16-research-network

Voting is a life-long habit and research has shown that the first voting
experience, or lack of experience, is determinative to how people
participate in future elections.  The Vote 16 Research Network is a
community-led collaboration between the university, community leaders,
young voters, and philanthropy that will pursue new knowledge about
lowering the voting age together. The network will work to produce ongoing
knowledge about lowering the voting age and establish a connection between
scholars and communities that can expand beyond this particular policy in
important and impactful ways.

As part of the project, partners from CivIC at the University of Maryland
School of Public Policy, the College of Education and the Center for
Democracy and Civic Engagement at the College of Behavioral and Social
Sciences spearheaded the Vote 16 Impact Analysis, a first-of-its-kind study
to learn more about what happens when communities lower the voting age to
16 in the United States.

Maryland is the only state with multiple jurisdictions that allow 16-year
olds to vote in local municipal elections. These localities are all in the
University of Maryland’s backyard and are potentially rich sources of
learning about the impact of youth voting on future civic engagement. The
study will focus on communities in Maryland, including Takoma Park, Riverdale
Park, Greenbelt, Mount Rainier and Hyattsville.

This effort brings together *young people directly impacted by the policy*,
the *local government officials* who implement it, *educators* who teach
students about politics, and *scholars* who study these issues to learn and
grow together. The impact analysis will help identify useful strategies for
youth activists, local election officials, educators and community
organizations.

Lowering the voting age gives more residents a role in democracy, makes
elections more representative, and has no down side that anyone has found
in our city.
Timothy Male Former City Councilmember, Takoma Park. Led the first
successful effort to create a 16 year old voting age in a U.S. city.

*How it works*

The Vote 16 Research Network meets at 3:30 ET on the last Thursday of every
month.
*Membership benefits*

In addition to being a dynamic space for networking and learning, the
University of Maryland provides the following benefits to all members.

   - Convening space and capacity on campus
   - Students interns and volunteers
   - Data collection and analysis
   - Program design support for registration and get ot the vote efforts
   - Curriculum design support

*Founding members*

The Vote 16 Research Network is anchored by the following founding members.

   - City of Hyattsville <https://www.hyattsville.org/>
   - City of Mount Rainier <https://www.mountrainiermd.org/>
   - City of Riverdale Park  <https://www.riverdaleparkmd.info/>
   - City of Takoma Park <https://takomaparkmd.gov/>
   - Generation Citizen <https://generationcitizen.org/>
   - Scholars studying the effects of lowering the voting age from Rutgers
   University <https://www.rutgers.edu/>, University of Kentucky
   <https://www.uky.edu/UKHome/>, University of Montana
   <https://www.umt.edu/>, and Western Carolina University
   <https://www.wcu.edu/>
   - University of Maryland Center for Democracy and Civic Engagement
   <https://cdce.umd.edu/>
   - University of Maryland College of Education
   <https://education.umd.edu/>
   - University of Maryland Civic Innovation Center <https://civic.umd.edu/>
   at the School of Public Policy <https://spp.umd.edu/>
   - Vote 16 USA  <https://vote16usa.org/>
   - Youth Partners from Greenbelt, Takoma Park, and Oakland CA

*Get involved*

Contact Quinn Arthur Farah at qafarah at umd.edu and Michael Hanmer at
mhanmer at umd.edu if you want to get involved with the Vote 16 Research
Network!

-- 
Alex Koroknay-Palicz
National Youth Rights Association
http://www.youthrights.org
AKPalicz at youthrights.org
301-738-6769
_______________________________________________
Children_Voting_Colloquium mailing list
Children_Voting_Colloquium at email.rutgers.edu
https://email.rutgers.edu/mailman/listinfo/children_voting_colloquium
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