High school sophomore Charlotte Coleman felt a mix of excitement and pride as she cast her first ever ballot during the College Park general election Tuesday.
The 16-year-old attending Eleanor Roosevelt High School in Greenbelt was one of six voters under 18 who participated in the first election after the city extended voting eligibility to those 16 and older in April.
“It’s important that everyone’s engaged in their community and what’s going on, so I thought it was important that I did that too,” she said.
More than 1,000 College Park residents voted in this year’s general election on Tuesday or during early voting on Sunday, according to city documents.
Ballots are still being counted as of 10 p.m. Tuesday night.
College Park has 53 registered 16 and 17-year-olds, according to the city. Two cast their ballots on Sunday and four voted Tuesday, according to city documents.
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Anna Lynch, a 16-year-old junior at Elizabeth Seton High School in Bladensburg, said voting on Tuesday was special because of her interest in politics.
“It’s just nice because I get to participate in democracy, which is something that’s really important now when our country doesn’t seem to always be upholding those values,” she said.
Lynch was surprised by how easy and quick the voting process was. She expected it would take extra time to verify her documents because of her age, she said.
All city council seats are up for election every two years. This year, IT workers Christopher Gill and Kelly Jordan and urban planner Holly Simmons are competing for both open seats in District 2.
Daniel Oates, former president of the Calvert Hills Citizens Association, ran unopposed for an open seat in District 3. All other races were uncontested.
While the only contested race was for the District 2 seats, many residents of other districts still showed up to vote on Tuesday.
Mary Anne Hakes, a District 3 resident of more than 50 years, said she votes in every election because it’s her civic duty.
“I think any election is important,” she said. “Because politics, to me, is local, and so what happens locally translates into county, federal, state.”
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Hakes, who chairs the city’s Senior Advisory Committee, said senior issues and bringing the community together are particularly important to her when voting. She said she was happy to vote for Oates, who happens to be her neighbor.
“He’s been very attentive to things of concern to us, which are things like the storm drain project that’s tearing up a park in our neighborhood and vacant housing,” she said.
Some University of Maryland students also turned out to the polls Tuesday.
Public policy graduate student Hannah Breslau chooses to vote in College Park instead of her home in New Jersey because she spends more time in College Park.
Breslau, who worked with TerpsVote as an undergraduate student at this university, hopes that increased student voting will strengthen student representation and create greater connection between students and long-term residents, she said.
Breslau said she supports 16 and 17-year-old voters because it allows them to build a habit of voting.
“People build their voting habits starting from a young age,” she said. “I think the younger the better.”
