WMBCTV: Community Empowers Teen Voices in First-Ever 16+ School Board Vote

History is being made in the city of Newark as New Jersey’s youngest voters are preparing to cast their ballots. With the Newark Board of Education’s April 15th elections fast approaching, state and local officials gathered at the Newark School of Data Science & Information Technology to host a registration drive and encourage students to vote ahead of the March 25th deadline. This will be the first school board election where 16-year-olds can cast their ballots.

“I’m glad we could all be part of something so monumental,” said Bryan Oko, 11th Grade Student. “Being here means you truly recognize what we know to be true - that our voices matter.”

Students say this election is an important step toward greater representation in school decision-making.

“The students are truly the next generation of voices and I believe with this student voting, we could actually make change. Students have a lot of great ideas,” said Abdul Qudus, 11th Grade Student. “With this, I hope we can spread these ideas across not just the state, but across the country.”

The Newark Public School District has also launched a video campaign that has been shared on the district’s website and social media platforms, in an effort to spread the word that young people now have a direct say in their education.

“We’re extremely excited in the city of Newark that 16 and 17 year olds are actually eligible to vote,” said Roger Leon, Superintendent - Newark Board of Education. “If we’re talking about schools and the improvement of schools, who better to talk to than the actual student impacted by the policies that exist?”

While this is a new opportunity for young voters, community members including widely-known rapper A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie say they hope this becomes a lasting tradition.

“When I was younger, we didn’t have this type of opportunity, so let’s keep on setting trends and let’s set the trend right,” said A Boogie.

With just days left to register, officials say they are excited to feel the momentum building.

“Being able to exercise your right to vote has never been more important,” said Phil Murphy, Governor of New Jersey. “There are already many hundreds of 16 and 17 year olds registered and a bunch more got registered today… so the fact that there’s this kind of enthusiasm is really, really important and impressive.”

Election day is April 15th. More information on how to sign up can be found on the Newark Public Schools website.