LOWELL’S PLAN TO ALLOW 17-YEAR-OLDS TO VOTE UNCONSTITUTIONAL, GALVIN SAYS

By Matt Murphy
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE

STATE HOUSE, BOSTON, SEPT. 29, 2011….Secretary of State William Galvin dealt a blow this week to efforts by Lowell teenagers to lower the voting age for city elections to 17, issuing a ruling that deemed the petition unconstitutional.

The finding by Galvin’s office, which contradicts previous opinions by the Lowell city solicitor and a Harvard law scholar, closed the door on the teens’ hope to bring the question of lowering the voting age to the city’s ballot this November, according to a top House lawmaker.

The home rule petition would have to clear the House and Senate by Monday and be signed into law by the governor in order to qualify for the November ballot.

“We want to work with the secretary’s office to fully understand the concerns. We’ve reached out and want to find out how to move forward,” said Gregg Croteau, director of the United Teen Equality Center in Lowell, who was behind the petition drive.

Croteau said he hopes city voters might have a chance to settle the issue in two years.

“Obviously there was this intermediary goal, but we understand legislation takes time, so if it doesn’t happen now we’re absolutely motivated to get it on the ballot for 2013,” Croteau said.

In a letter to House counsel James Kennedy on Monday, Assistant Secretary of State and legislative director Michael Maresco wrote that the home rule petition pending in the House ran counter to Massachusetts general laws that require voters to be at least 18 years old and not under guardianship or incarcerated.

“Accordingly, it is our opinion that this home rule petition is inconsistent with the Massachusetts constitution,” Maresco wrote.

The bill (H 1111), filed by Rep. Kevin Murphy (D-Lowell) and backed by the entire Lowell delegation, has won an initial vote of approval in the House and was referred the bill to the Committee on Bills in the Third Reading.

Rep. Vincent Pedone, the chairman of Third Reading, told the News Service on Thursday that Galvin’s ruling gave him pause about advancing the bill further in the House until the legal questions are resolved.

“Given the controversy that surrounds this, moving the bill through the legislative process quickly only to find out in the future that it is unconstitutional would not be prudent,” Pedone said. “We will continue to try to get more information on the bill, but I find it difficult to believe we will be able to resolve all the issues that exist before the Oct. 3 deadline.”

Pedone said he was also concerned that the bill might inadvertently set a precedent for allowing 17-year-olds to run for public office, given that most city and town charters allow registered voters to run for elected office.

“Maybe we should have a larger discussion about 17-year-olds voting in municipal elections instead of doing it town by town, city by city,” Pedone said.

The Lowell City Council approved the home rule petition in December 2010 after City Solicitor Christine O’Conner issued a ruling that the state Constitution and General Laws applied only to state elections, not municipal elections.

Though O’Conner acknowledged past concerns from the Secretary of State that such a change would lead to confusion for election administrators, and potential added costs for cities to maintain separate voter databases, she said that did not affect the legality of the change.

Croteau said UTEC also sought an opinion from Harvard law professor and constitutional scholar Laurence Tribe, who issued a statement through the teen group concluding that the home rule petition would be “entirely legal” once the state Legislature and governor approved the bill.

Nearly 40 UTEC volunteers have spent months pushing for the bill’s passage, knocking on over 3,000 doors and repeatedly visiting the State House to press for support. The teens have pitched the change as an attempt to increase voter-turnout, arguing that 18-year-olds are in transition moving away to college, while 17-year-olds are still tied to their communities.

If passed, Lowell would become the first city in Massachusetts, if not the country, to allow 17-year-olds to vote. The Cambridge City Council passed a similar home rule petition nearly a decade ago, but the measure died in committee, failing to advance as far as Lowell’s bill this session.

One major difference between Lowell bill and the effort in Cambridge is that Lowell is requesting legislative approval to allow city voters to decide the issue on the ballot, rather than automatically lowering the voting age as Cambridge proposed.