The House of Representatives passed a constitutional amendment to allow some 17-year-olds to vote in a primary, however, it didn’t receive the 114 votes it needed to get on the ballot this November. The constitutional amendment passed, 105 to 36, and will go onto the Senate for a vote, but will need to be taken up by the General Assembly in 2009 in order to get it on the ballot in 2010.
Rep. James Spallone, D-Essex, who introduced the bill, believed Thursday’s amendment clarified the intent of the legislation which had hit a snag earlier this week. Click here to read about that.
Spallone said 9 other states have adopted similar provisions. He said he’s confident that when it’s finally adopted that the voters in the state will approve it. “It’s a logical progression of the current law,” he said.
