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Daily Brew: November 10, 2025

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Ballotpedia's Daily Brew


November 11 →

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Welcome to the Monday, Nov. 10, Brew.

By: Briana Ryan

Here’s what’s in store for you as you start your day:

  1. A look at voting under the age of 18 in the U.S.
  2. Greenbelt, Maryland, could be the next municipality to adopt ranked-choice voting
  3. President Donald Trump has appointed 17 federal judges through Nov. 1 of his first year of his second term

A look at voting under the age of 18 in the U.S.

On Sept. 30, the College Park City Council in Maryland voted to lower the minimum voting age in city elections to 16 years old. The change puts them among a small group of jurisdictions that allow 16-year-olds to participate in local elections. So what does youth voting look like nationwide?

In 27 states and D.C., voters under the age of 18 can vote in at least some elections. This includes two types of voters:

  • Voters permitted to vote in a primary, or participate in a nominating contest, who will be 18 by the date of the subsequent general election, and
  • Voters authorized by specific jurisdictions to vote in some or all local elections. 

No state permits voters under the age of 18 to vote in state or federal general elections. 

Primaries and nominating contests

In 22 states and D.C., laws permit individuals under the age of 18 to vote in a primary or participate in a party nominating contest if they will turn 18 by the time of the general election. In Alaska and Wyoming, the state Democratic Party permits these voters to participate in primaries, but the Republican Party does not. 

In 1972, Delaware and Maryland became the first states to allow voters under 18 to participate in primaries. Nine more states joined them by 2000, and another 11 did so between 2001 and 2024. 

Although there is no clear partisan breakdown among states that have these laws— 10 have a Democratic trifecta, nine have a Republican trifecta, and three have a divided government — recent history shows that allowing 17-year-olds to participate in primaries has been a higher priority in Democratic states. The four most recent states to allow younger participants had a Democratic trifecta, and only two states with aRepublican trifecta have done so since 1992. 

Local elections 

In California, Maryland, New Jersey, and Vermont, there is at least one jurisdiction that allows 16- and 17-year-olds to vote in some or all of its local elections. Takoma Park, Maryland, became the first jurisdiction to do so in 2013.

There are currently 12 jurisdictions with a minimum voting age of 16, eight of which are in Maryland. College Park, Maryland, and Albany, California have approved giving 16- and 17-year-olds the right to vote in local elections, but have not implemented the change.

In November 2024, voters in Albany, California, became the first in the country to approve a charter amendment allowing 16-year-olds to vote in all local elections. They approved Measure V 64% to 36%.

In three of the 12 jurisdictions that currently have youth voting — Berkeley and Oakland, California, and Newark, New Jersey — 16-year-olds are only allowed to vote in school board elections. In Berkeley, voters approved the change 70% to 30% through Measure Y1 in 2016. In Oakland, voters followed suit and approved Measure QQ 68% to 32% in 2020. Sixteen- and 17-year-olds first voted in Berkeley and Oakland school elections in November 2024 when roughly one-third of approximately 1,500 registered youth voters turned out, according to KQED. 

The Newark, New Jersey, city council unanimously voted to allow 16- and 17-year-olds to vote in school elections in January 2024. According to Chalkbeat, 73 of 1,851 registered teens voted when the policy went into effect for the April 2025 school board election.

Vermont Gov. Phil Scott (R) sought to prevent the introduction of local youth voting in that state. The town of Brattleboro’s voters approved a charter amendment in 2019 to allow younger voters in municipal elections, which then required approval from the Legislature and governor. After clearing the Legislature in 2023, Scott vetoed the change, but the Democratic-led Legislature overrode his veto.

The future of youth voting 

In 2025, one bill has passed a legislative chamber which would expand 17-year-old primary voting, New York’s S 3231. New York is a Democratic trifecta. The legislation passed the state’s Senate 41-18 on June 11, with all Democrats and three Republicans voting for it. 

Despite the recent trends, some Republican lawmakers are interested in the idea. In at least two states, Massachusetts and Minnesota, Republican legislators introduced bills this year that would have brought younger primary voting to their states. 

Click here to read more about voting under the age of 18 in the U.S.

Greenbelt, Maryland, could be the next municipality to adopt ranked-choice voting

On Nov. 4, voters in Greenbelt, Maryland, passed a non-binding referendum in favor of adopting ranked-choice voting (RCV) for city council elections. If the Greenbelt City Council adopts an RCV system, it would be the 52nd locality in the United States that uses or is scheduled to use RCV in at least some elections.

Greenbelt voters approved the measure 67% to 33%. Currently, one other city in Maryland—Takoma Park—uses RCV.

One other locality enacted ranked-choice voting in 2025, with voters in Skokie, Illinois, approving an RCV initiative in April.

RCV is an electoral system in which voters rank candidates by preference on their ballots. Many types of ranked-choice voting exist, but the most commonly used in the United States is instant-runoff voting.

Currently, eight states authorize or require RCV for certain elections, while 17 states prohibit or restrict RCV.

Two states—Alaska and Maine—use RCV for some federal and statewide elections, while Hawaii uses RCV for some statewide elections. Localities in 15 states currently use RCV. The locality with the longest continuous use of RCV is Cambridge, Massachusetts, which began using the system in 1941.

Examples of RCV in the Nov. 4 elections

Incumbent Mayor Jacob Frey won a second term as mayor of Minneapolis, defeating state Sen. Omar Fateh. Minneapolis began using RCV in 2009.

In the first round of voting, Frey received 42% of the vote, Fateh received 32%, DeWayne Davis received 14%, and Jazz Hampton received 10%. Candidates who mathematically could not win were eliminated and their second-place votes distributed until Frey defeated Fateh with 53% of the vote.

Elsewhere in the Twin Cities, state Rep. Kaohly Her defeated incumbent Mayor Melvin Carter III to win the mayoral election in St. Paul. Carter led after the first round of voting with 40.8%, while Her had 38.3%, Yan Chen had 9.6%, and Mike Hilborn had 8.6%. Once the other candidates were eliminated and their second-place votes distributed, Her defeated Carter with 51.5% of the vote.

In New Mexico, Michael Garcia defeated seven other candidates to win the Santa Fe mayoral election after incumbent Mayor Alan Webber did not seek re-election. Garcia led with 36% of the vote after the first round, ahead of Oscar Salazar Rodriguez with 22.6%, Ronald Trujillo with 13.9%, and Justin Greene with 10%. According to the Santa Fe New Mexican, Santa Fe County Clerk Katharine Clark announced that Garcia won after several rounds of RCV tabulation.

Click here to read more about RCV.

President Donald Trump has appointed 17 federal judges through Nov. 1 of the first year of his second term

In this month’s federal judicial vacancy count, Ballotpedia tracked nominations, confirmations, and vacancies from Oct. 2 through Nov. 4. Ballotpedia publishes the federal judicial vacancy count at the start of each month.

New confirmations

Since the previous report, the U.S. Senate has confirmed nine of President Donald Trump’s (R) nominees to Article III seats—the most of any month of his second term in office. Those nominees include:

As of Nov. 1, the Senate has confirmed 17 of Trump’s judicial nominees—13 district court judges, four appeals court judges, no Court of International Trade judges, and no Supreme Court justices—since January 2025.

This is the second-fewest number of Article III judicial appointments through this point in all presidents’ second terms since Bill Clinton (D). Previous presidents have appointed an average of 22.8 federal judges through Nov. 1 of the first year of their second terms.

By November of the first year of his second term, President Barack Obama (D) had the most appointees confirmed with 36, and President George W. Bush (R) had the fewest confirmations with 15.

No Supreme Court justices were appointed by this time in any president’s second term.

The median number of U.S. Court of Appeals appointees is six. President Obama had the most appointees with nine. President Trump appointed the fewest with four.

The median number of U.S. District Court appointees is 15.5. President Obama had the most appointees with 25. President W. Bush appointed the fewest with seven.

New nominations

Trump has announced two new nominations since the previous report.

Since taking office in January 2025, Trump has nominated 29 individuals to Article III positions.

New vacancies

There were 47 vacancies out of 870 active Article III judicial positions, a total vacancy percentage of 5.4, which is 0.5 percentage points lower than the vacancy percentage in October 2025.

A vacancy occurs when a judge resigns, retires, takes senior status, or passes away. Article III judges, who serve on courts authorized by Article III of the Constitution, are appointed for life terms.

Three judges left active status, creating Article III life-term judicial vacancies. As Article III judicial positions, these vacancies must be filled by a nomination from the president. Nominations are subject to confirmation on the advice and consent of the U.S. Senate.

Federal judicial vacancies

The following map shows the number of vacancies on the United States Court of Appeals as of Nov. 4.

The following map shows the number of vacancies in the United States District Courts as of Nov. 4.

The following chart shows the number of federal judicial vacancies each month during the Trump administration from Jan. 21 to Nov. 4.

Click here for a comparison of federal judicial appointments by president and here for a list of Trump’s appointments.

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