State Assemblyman Cella Seeks Voting Age of 18

A constitutional amendment to lower the Massachusetts voting age to 18 has recently been proposed by State Representative Alexander J. Cella '51, former Harvard teaching fellow and government lecturer. The bill is presently before a statehouse committee for consideration.

Cella is interested in a lower voting age because he feels "people 18-21 are as capable and intelligent as many of those that are older. They seem to take political questions quite seriously. If they had the chance to vote, they would study the political situation carefully, as many voting for the first time do today."

The Representative said that passage of the bill would help solve inadequate civics preparation at the high school level. If the voting age were lowered to 18, schools would be more careful to prepare their students in government and history.

The amendment, House 1125, has a good chance of passage, according to Cella, since Governor Furcolo is also supporting a voting age of 18. At a recent news conference, the Governor declared that he was fully behind the move to make 18 the legal voting age in Massachusetts.

Further support for the proposition comes from two other Assemblymen, Senator Mario Umano '36, and Representative Belden Bly, who have independly proposed bills almost identical to Cella's.

If the ammendment is passed by the committee, it still would require a minimum of about four years to become part of the state constitution, since it must pass two successive sessions of the state legislature and a referendum.