Voting across most of the country is restricted to citizens 18 years old or older, but one Northern California town will decide whether to lower the minimum age to vote to 16 later this year.

A small movement to lower the voting age to 16 began in recent years but has failed to gain support in any state legislatures or Congress. Some cities, including Takoma Park, Maryland, and Oakland, California, have lowered their voting ages for some local elections to 16 years old, and Albany, California, is looking to join that group.

Last month, the Albany City Council approved the ballot measure to appear before voters in the Nov. 5 election. The measure would authorize “qualifying persons 16 years old and above to vote in municipal elections” but would not permit them to run for local office or allow them to vote in state or federal elections.

Local activists, including 18-year-old Alex Li, argued to Politico that 16- and 17-year-olds are involved in shaping local policy, “So why can’t they vote?”

The voting age was lowered federally from 21 to 18 in 1971, with the ratification of the 26th Amendment. The argument for lowering the voting age then was that the age at which men were drafted into the military, 18 years old, was different from the age at which they could vote.

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The most recent attempt to lower the voting age federally failed in Congress, 125-302, in 2021 as part of a wider package of election reforms, which were not passed by the Senate.

The measure in Albany requires a simple majority to pass.