HOBOKEN, N.J. — Gov. Phil Murphy visited Hoboken High School on Thursday to highlight a bill that would allow 16- and 17-year-olds to vote in local school board elections, marking New Jersey’s potential first step toward expanding youth participation in civic engagement.
Murphy, along with Assemblymember Cleopatra Tucker (D-Essex) and state Sen. Raj Mukherji (D-Hudson), joined an Advanced Placement United States Government and Politics class for an interactive learning session. The class, taught by Steve D’Bernado, engaged students in a “multiple choice round robin challenge” that tested their knowledge of core principles like federalism and popular sovereignty.
Murphy, who participated in the exercise with students, praised their performance, calling his group the “super team” after they answered five out of six questions correctly. He later addressed the class, emphasizing the significance of youth participation in school board elections.
“We are espousing voting rights for 16- and 17-year-olds,” Murphy told the students. “Raj and Cleo are sponsoring a bill that would allow 16- and 17-year-olds to vote in school board elections, because those are elections that most directly impact you all as students.”
The bill follows Newark’s initiative to allow 16- and 17-year-olds to vote in school board elections starting in April. Murphy expressed his hope to make this a statewide mandate, making New Jersey the first state to allow teens to vote in school board elections.
“This is the first step for 16- and 17-year-olds participating in the broader participation in ultimately all of our elections,” Murphy said.
Murphy commended the students for their engagement, describing the class as “extraordinary.” The bill, if passed, could reshape youth civic involvement in New Jersey, setting a national precedent.
