In Newark school board election, all eyes on youth voting

Newark residents will elect three school board members on Tuesday in the first election in the state’s history to allow 16- and 17-year-olds to vote.

By the time voter registration closed, 1,771 Newarkers under 18 had signed up. The New Jersey Institute for Social Justice estimates that roughly 25% of eligible 16- and 17-year-olds registered, according to ChalkBeat Newark.

One incumbent, Kanileah Anderson, is seeking re-election on the city-backed slate alongside Louis Maisonave Jr. and David Daughety.

The establishment-backed slate faces a challenge from a trio of Ade’Kamil Kelly, Shana Melius, and Nathanael Barthelemy. Melius worked as a staffer for the late Rep. Donald Payne Jr. and later ran to succeed him in Congress, where she finished sixth in a crowded race won by now-Rep. LaMonica McIver.




https://newjerseyglobe.com/campaigns/in-newark-school-board-election-all-eyes-on-youth-voting/