Some Maryland teens and get-out-the-vote campaigns celebrated a Maryland board?s decision Thursday to reinstate primary voting privileges for 17-year-olds who turn 18 by the general election.
The unanimous vote by the state?s Board of Elections marked the reversal of a decision to end the long-standing policy.
Leaders from both major political parties said they have the right to choose who to invite to participate in their primaries and threatened legal action if the board did not reinstate the practice.
“We know that young people who vote the very first time they have an opportunity will be much more likely to vote consistently for the rest of their lives,” said Michael Cryor, chairman of Maryland?s Democratic Party.
Board members said the policy switch was based on the interpretation of a 2006 Maryland Court of Appeals ruling, which struck down an early-voting statute, and an opinion of the state?s attorney general.
But Wednesday, Maryland Attorney General Doug Gansler issued a second opinion recommending the reversal.
The board plans to send letters to the 3,800 eligible 17-year-olds denied, said Mary Cramer Wagner, director of voter registration. She said applications received so far are consistent with previous years.
But advocates such as Sarah Boltuck, a student at Whitman High School in Bethesda who turns 18 in July, said far more might have registered if not for the confusion on the board?s Web site, instructions on application forms and word of mouthfrom teens whose applications were rejected.
To offset the “misguidance,” Boltuck called for an immediate voter registration campaign targeting young voters, who have until Jan. 22 to submit applications.
“This should be a campaign the scale and intensity of which Marylanders have never seen before, because time is of the essence,” Boltuck said.
Eight other states permit 17-year-olds to vote in primaries if they turn 18 by the general election.
Board member Robert Walker said party leaders were aware of the change perhaps as early as one year ago.
But Walker said the board should have publicized the change.
“In hindsight, with changes like this, we could have done a better job,” he said.
