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LA Charter Reform Commission recommends lowering voting age for municipal elections to 16
A pedestrian is walking past City Hall in Los Angeles Tuesday, July 8, 2025.
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Allen J. Schaben
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Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
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Topline:
L.A.’s Charter Reform Commission on Wednesday recommended 16-year-olds and noncitizens be able to vote in municipal elections. They are among the first — and least controversial, commissioners say — proposed changes to the city charter that voters may see on their ballots in November.
Some background on the commission: First approved in July 2024 after a series of scandals at City Hall, the Charter Reform Commission was tasked with suggesting changes to the city charter — a foundational city document, similar to a constitution. The commission had a slow start, facing a number of challenges, and is now pressed to finalize its recommendations on some of the city’s most consequential issues with less than two months left.
What else is moving forward: Recommendations to require a multi-year capital infrastructure plan, remove limits on building height, simplify the process for candidates to get on the ballot for municipal elections, and allow the Recreation and Parks Department to sell land that can't be used as a city park.
Not on the ballot yet: There is still a lengthy process before Angeleos can vote on any of the commission’s recommendations, which need to be written in official charter language and passed again by the commission before being sent to the City Council for approval.
What else may be coming: Commission Chair Raymond Meza said Wednesday’s vote was a big step forward, and votes will be moving faster in the coming weeks. Here are a few significant recommendations the commission is expected to vote on soon:
- Expand the City Council from 15 to 23 seats
- Adopt a ranked choice voting system
- Separate the role of the City Attorney into an appointed city attorney and an elected city prosecutor
- Strengthen campaign finance laws and anti-corruption measures
- Establish a process to suspend City Council members
- Switch from a one-year to a two-year budgeting process
- Require the charter to be reviewed every 10 years
- Police and civil service reform
What's next: The commission is scheduled to meet every Tuesday and Thursday in March in order to get final recommendations to the City Council by April, Meza told LAist.
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