Gunn High School students Rayla Chen and Iris Blanchet are founders of Vote16 Palo Alto, a chapter of Vote16USA, an organization that aims to lower the voting age of city elections to 16. If successful, the mission of Vote16 Palo Alto would allow for 16 and 17‐year‐olds to vote in city council elections and for local ballot measures. Gunn Senior Iris Blanchett is a director of Vote16 Palo Alto. He said that the goal of the organization is to increase youth civic engagement, and lowering voting age to 16 is the best way to do that. Vote16 Palo Alto is hoping to solicit enough signatures to qualify for the November 2026 ballot. “The best thing you can do is preregister to vote when you turn 16,” Blanchett said.
Sunday Ahn, Paly senior: “I think including a younger perspective could be really good for recognizing issues and opinions that aren’t represented as much outside of teenagers. At the same time I think there’s also a lot of immaturity and peer pressure still happening at our age and a lot of kids could potentially not take it seriously or [not] be informed about who they’re voting for.”