Gansler Supports Voting At Age 17

Attorney General Pushes Reversal In Primary Rules

Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler recommended yesterday that about 50,000 Maryland 17-year-olds be allowed to vote in the Feb. 12 presidential primary, reversing an opinion from his staff that prompted state officials to deny them voting rights before they are 18.

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The First Amendment right of the state's political parties to determine who can vote in primary elections trumps any new state policy on voter-age restrictions, Gansler (D) said in a five-page opinion.

The State Board of Elections is expected to follow Gansler's recommendation at a meeting today by restoring the right of 17-year-olds to vote in primaries as long as they are 18 by the date of the general election.

Since the 1970s, Maryland residents have been able to register at age 17, if their birthday was before the November election. Thousands of 17-year-olds routinely voted in primaries.

But the board reversed the policy late last year, based on an opinion from the attorney general's office.

A state lawyer advised election officials that a December 2006 Court of Appeals decision invalidating an early-voting law passed by the General Assembly that year also affected voters in primary elections. Assistant Attorney General Mark Davis wrote that primaries, according to the court's ruling, are governed by the same regulations as general elections, which allow only those 18 and older to vote.

The policy change drew protests from the state Republican and Democratic parties, which have an interest in seeing as many new voters on the rolls as possible. The parties heard complaints from angry parents and their teenagers.

The issue also galvanized voting rights advocates, who said confusion over the rules led to very low registration by 17-year-olds this year. Students at Archbishop Spalding High School in Severn launched a page on Facebook to protest the ruling and prepared to protest in Annapolis.

On Monday, Sen. Jamie B. Raskin (D-Montgomery) asked Gansler for a formal opinion on whether Maryland's political parties could decide the question. Raskin, a law professor who has taken an interest in voting rights issues in the legislature, argued that the parties' federal right to freedom of association to determine who can participate in choosing their candidates for office overrules any interpretation of state law.

Gansler agreed with Raskin yesterday and recommended that the State Board of Elections change its policy. The board is expected to reinstate the right of 17-year-olds to vote in February's Democratic and Republican primaries.

Deputy Elections Administrator Ross Goldstein said that 2,308 17-year-olds voted in the 2004 Maryland primary and that 3,800 have registered to vote this year.

Timing of the change will be tight: Jan. 22 is the registration deadline to vote in the primary.

Raskin said that despite the confusion so close to the primary, the controversy might push more young voters to participate in the political process.

"All of this may be a blessing in disguise, because now the public is talking about this," Raskin said. He plans to introduce a bill in the upcoming General Assembly session that would allow 16-year-olds to register to vote, a process that could be encouraged in high school government classes.

FairVote, a voting rights group, announced a public information campaign yesterday with the Maryland Association of Secondary School Principals to notify eligible students of the registration deadline.