Top court explains why 17-year-olds can vote in primaries

On Feb. 8, 2008, the Court of Appeals issued an order that 17-year-olds who would be 18 before November’s general election could vote in the primary election four days away. It promised an opinion at a later date.

Now, more than five-and-half years later, we get the whole megilah.

The case stemmed from the court’s 2006 decision finding early voting unconstitutional, which led to a series of inquiries and advisory opinions culminating with the attorney general recommending that 17-year-olds can vote in primary elections only if they are affiliated with a political party and do not vote in nonpartisan elections, such as for a county board of education.

(The Maryland State Board of Elections has a handy and comprehensive timeline of all the events.)

The case before the Court of Appeals was filed Feb. 1, 2008 on behalf of a pair of 17-year-olds in Frederick and Montgomery counties who were denied voter registration. The Court of Appeals heard the case one week later and issued its order the same day.

Retired Chief Judge Robert M. Bell, writing Friday for the unanimous court, said when the state constitution refers to “the next election” to establish voting age, it is referring to a general election, not a primary one. The constitution, Bell continued, “is not in conflict with” the election law allowing 17-year-olds to vote in primary elections.

And, since election law requires school board members to be nominated in the primary election, 17-year-olds can vote in nonpartisan elections, Bell added.

“It would be inconsistent with with the purposes of Maryland law regarding the individual elective franchise were we to hold that an individual must be 18 years-old at the time of the primary election in order to vote in that election,” Bell concluded. “Such a result would deny 17 year-old persons, who would otherwise be eligible to vote in the subsequent general election, the opportunity to participate fully in the elective process.”