Bernie Sanders has sued Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted over ballot access, seeking to allow 17-year-olds to vote in the state’s March 15 primary.
“The secretary of state has decided to disenfranchise people who are 17 but will be 18 by the day of the general election,” Sanders campaign manager Jeff Weaver told reporters.
Under Ohio law, 17-year-olds who will turn 18 prior to the general election are eligible to vote in the primary. Specifically, the law gives 17-year-olds the right to vote to nominate a candidate, not directly elect them. As Secretary Husted has pointed out, presidential primary voters are actually electing delegates, not simply voting for a candidate’s nomination. As such, he believes the law clearly prohibits 17-year-olds from taking part in the presidential primary.
Several 17-year-old plaintiffs have already filed a lawsuit against Secretary Husted, and Sen. Sanders filed a separate action in federal court this week. Sanders said in a statement: “[I]t is an outrage that the secretary of state in Ohio is going out of his way to keep young people — significantly African-American young people, Latino young people — from participating.”
Sanders’ comments are misleading at the very least. Husted’s regulation will only prevent 17-year-olds from voting in the presidential primary, they will still be allowed to cast votes in the other primary races. Additionally, the charge that young African-Americans and Latinos will be significantly affected just doesn’t hold up. According to the census bureau, as of 2014, Ohio’s population is 83 percent white. So, while it’s true that African-American and Latino young people will be affected, the numbers will be nearly insignificant when compared to the number of young white people who will be prevented from casting a presidential primary ballot.
It makes sense that Sanders wants to increase the opportunities for young voters to cast a ballot. A huge part of his campaign strategy up to this point has been courting the youth vote. In fact, participation by young voters played a leading role in the Vermont senator’s upset victory in Michigan on Tuesday. However, the motivation behind Sanders’ attempt to make this a racial issue is less clear. If the goal is to have as many young people participate as possible, why then is it any more significant when a young African-American or Latino voter is turned away, as opposed to a young white voter? Especially when given the demographic information which demonstrates young white voters will be affected more than any other group.
For his part, Secretary Husted does not seem phased by the lawsuit. When asked, he said: “I welcome this lawsuit and I am very happy to be sued on this issue because the law is crystal clear.” Husted added that he is following the same rules Ohio has operated under in past primaries, under both Democratic and Republican administrations.
“There is nothing new here,” he said. “If you are going to be 18 by the November election, you can vote, just not on every issue.”
