Select Board member Peter Spellios proposed a Town Meeting Warrant Article that would change voting regulations in an effort to increase voter participation.
The article proposes lowering the minimum voting age from 18 to 16, along with changing the town’s annual June election date from a Tuesday to a consecutive Saturday and Sunday.
Spellios presented statistics to his peers at the Select Board’s most recent meeting, demonstrating a decline in voter engagement.
“Swampscott voter turnout has decreased approximately 45% in the past 50 years, with only 13.8% of registered voters voting in the 2023 town election,” Spellios said in a press release.
Spellios suggested that a nationwide “loss of faith” in government has led to a downtrend in local election involvement.
“I think people have lost faith in the ability of government to do something, which is ironic because it has to,” Spellios said. “We have to fund police departments, we have to pick up trash, we have to plow streets, we have to fund schools.”
Swampscott now joins Boston, Somerville, Northampton, and Acton, looking to lower the voting age. Town Administrator Sean Fitzgerald explained how he feels it is important to engage the town’s younger generation beyond just increasing voting input.
“It’s so critical that we think about ways to engage young citizens that are going to be left with some of the inadequacies of our investment in our environment,” Fitzgerald said. “They are subject to many of the outcomes.”
He added that 16 and 17-year-olds do not have a lot of ability to participate in a democracy and that this effort will potentially give them a “stronger voice” regarding the direction of the town.
“I think the efforts to engage our 17 and 16-year-olds are in line with this desire to continue to define a more perfect union,” Fitzgerald said.
Spellios said that the Select Board will be engaging with high school students on the topic throughout February. The Select Board will first vote on the article, then if it passes, it will be presented at Town Meeting. If the town approves it, it will move up to the state-level to the House of Representatives and Senate. Finally, it would have to be approved by Gov. Maura Healey.
