Some California cities will allow 16- and 17-year-olds to vote for school board this year

Some older Bay Area teenagers will have a chance to make their voices heard this election — albeit in limited fashion.

While still barred from voting on higher-profile races such as those for president or Congress, 16- and 17-year-olds living in Oakland and Berkeley will be able to cast ballots in upcoming school board elections, which determine the leadership and policies of local districts.

The vote was extended thanks to the passage of Berkeley’s Measure Y1 and Oakland’s Measure QQ, according to a joint news release.

The state already has a system that pre-registers 16- and 17-year-olds to vote, and their registration becomes active once they turn 18, officials said. The same system will be used to allow them to vote in their local school board elections, but not other races scheduled at the same time, according to the Alameda County Registrar of Voters.

“This has never been done before in California and we had to make sure that it was done properly,” Alameda County Registrar of Voters Tim Dupuis said in a statement. “I would like to thank the Board of Supervisors for their support in helping make it possible for 16- and 17-year-olds in Oakland and Berkeley to vote for school board in November 2024.”

Four of seven board seats in the Oakland Unified School District are up for election in November, as are two in the Berkeley Unified School District.

“Voting is not just a right but a civic duty, and extending this right to 16- and 17-year-olds will foster a culture of civic participation from an early age,” Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao said in a statement.

Though the goal of this new policy is to increase youth voter turnout, its effects won’t be known until the polls close. And many minors still may opt not to vote.

“Me, personally, I’m not that political, especially with today’s standards,” Naseem Bennett, a 17-year-old Oakland Tech senior, told the Mercury News. “But would I vote? I would think about it.”