A prize-winning Student Voices project has caught the ear of two Pennsylvania lawmakers who now are pushing for hearings on a proposal to let 17-year-olds vote in the state's primary elections if they will be 18 (and eligible to vote) before the November general election.
"In the very beginning, it was just a civics-fair entry," said Doug Weisband, one of three students from Fox Chapel Area High School, near Pittsburgh, who created the project. "Day by day, it got more real."
Weisband, and classmates Julia Hazlet and Kevin Pflumm, saw their project take top honors in the fourth annual Greater Pittsburgh Student Voices civics fair. But that was just the start. They then took their idea to State Rep. Frank Dermody (D., Allegheny), who in conjunction with Rep. Richard T. Grucela (D., Northampton), is considering holding hearings on the idea.
Nine states already allow the practice.