Vote 16 Culver City

Lifting the Veil

Supporters of Measure YV - Vote 16 Culver City argue that the majority of 16- and 17-year-olds are mature enough to make informed voting decisions. That they pay taxes and therefore should have a direct legal say in what taxes are raised and how the money should be spent. And that people who vote at an early age are more likely to be civically engaged throughout their lives.

NONE of these arguments hold up under minimal fact-checking. (See the research papers linked on the Home page)

If Measure YV were limited to 16- and 17-year-olds voting on School Board and school-related issues it would be easier to support. Schools directly impact the lives of 16- and 17-year-olds. Giving them a voice in school-related decisions makes sense.

But the language of Measure YV intentionally includes local elections and referendums.  This would give 16- and 17-year-olds a say in how local tax revenue that very few of them pay will be raised and allocated. No U.S. community of Culver City’s size or larger has approved a lowered voting age for local elections and measures. Measure YV is a tremendous and indefensible over-reach.

So what is the motivation of the three Culver City Council people – Mayor Freddy Puza, Vice Mayor Bubba Fish, Councilperson Yasmine-Imani McMorran - to support Measure YV. Why have they voted to place the over-reaching language of Measure YV on the ballot AGAIN  after the citizens of Culver City have already signaled TWICE that they do NOT support the effort.

In their respective elections, Councilmembers Puza, Fish, and McMorran got significantly fewer votes and had significantly less small-donor support from the citizens of Culver City than Councilmembers O’Brien and Vera. In a democracy, the best outcome occurs when representatives negotiate with each other, find compromises, and pass legislation with broad support that helps the most people. Yet the three of them have consistently passed critical legislation 3:2, sidelining Councilmembers Vera and O’Brien, elevating hardline ideology over compromise, and overriding the concerns of many Culver City citizens.

Clinical studies clearly show that 16- and 17-year-olds are highly susceptible to peer pressure and emotional arguments. Only a few hundred votes separate winning and losing candidates and measures in Culver City elections.

Donald Trump called for redistricting prior to the mid-term elections to increase the number of Republican representatives and decrease the number of Democratic representatives in the House and Senate. His goal was to be able to maintain control of government and overpower any opposition to his policies. He worked to decrease the power of citizens who disagreed with his policies.

Measure YV is the same type of electoral manipulation, only instead of redrawing the map by political party to control the outcome, Measure YV is an attempt to seize control by manipulating the voting age. Adding around 800 16- and 17-year-old voters will instantly make them the deciding voting block for any candidate or issue.

If passed, this measure will motivate politicians and advocates to develop opportunities to make direct contact with your children outside of school grounds, and to use peer pressure and emotional arguments to influence their views. The activists who can capture this voting block will be able to control city priorities and spending for years to come.

The three council people have already worked to build relationships with this highly susceptible population of students in preparation for this Measure YV vote.

Do not let them bring Donald Trump’s political manipulation tactics and autocratic rule to Culver City politics.

  • If you don’t like that the City went $21,000,000 in debt a few months ago to fund construction of ~95 affordable housing units and then put a “special tax” on this election’s ballot to pay for school improvements;
  • If you don’t like that Vote 16 Culver City is on the ballot again because a few students asked for it, yet when HUNDREDS of citizens asked for the Overland Project to ALSO be put on the ballot Mayor Freddy Puza voted NO;
  • If you don’t like that Mayor Freddy Puza chose to ignore the democratic process and cast the deciding vote to put the SAME Vote 16 Culver City measure that was rejected in 2022 on the ballot again because he didn’t like the results of the past two efforts, taking Trump-style Election Denial to the next level;

Please Vote NO on Measure YV.