The D.C. Council Judiciary and Public Safety Committee passed legislation that would lower the voting age to 16 for all D.C. residents.

If the legislation passes through the council and signed into law by Mayor Muriel Bowser, 16 and 17 year-old residents would be able to register and vote for all D.C. elections, including presidential, mayoral, D.C. Council, and more.

The legislation, known as the Youth Vote Amendment Act of 2018, was introduced by Ward 6 Councilmember Charles Allen in April of this year, with six other co-introducers including four of the five members of the Committee on the Judiciary and Public Safety. It passed today in committee with a vote of 3-0.

“At the age of 16, your legal relationship with the government changes,” Allen said in a news release. “Young people work and pay income taxes. Some are raising a family or helping their family make ends meet. They can drive a car. Ironically, they pay fees to get a license plate that reads ‘End Taxation Without Representation.’”

During the public hearing for the legislation, more than 70 people testified the need for younger people to vote. In 2016, the U.S. Census reported that there were around 10,455 D.C. residents between 16 and 17 years-old, with around 70 percent of those residents being black, 24 percent white, and 13 percent who identified and Hispanic or Latino.

This legislation is being revived after a 2015 stint from Allen, with a new spark of energy for youth voter rights from student activists.

Three Maryland jurisdictions, Takoma Park, Greenbelt, and Hyattsville, all have passed legislation that dropped the voting age to 16 for local elections. If the District were to follow in those footsteps, it would be the first jurisdiction in the country to lower the voting age for all races.

Later this month, the full D.C. Council will take up the bill.