Oakland considers dropping voting age in school board elections

Oakland City Council members will decide Tuesday whether to allow 16 and 17-year-old residents to vote in the Oakland School Board elections.

The Oakland Youth Vote measure, authored by City Council President Rebecca Kaplan, has garnered support from the Mayor Libby Schaaf as well as other city leaders and local organizations.

The measure is expected to be on the November ballot and, if passed, would make Oakland the fifth city in the nation to allow people as young as 16 to vote. Voters in Berkeley already passed a similar measure back in 2016.

In addition, San Francisco city supervisors are considering a measure for the November ballot that would allow 16 and 17-year-olds to vote in the city’s municipal elections.

The Oakland City Council is expected to vote on the measure at their regular meeting on Tuesday, starting at 1:30 p.m.