Name: Philip K. Hamilton
Office Sought: Town Meeting Member Precinct 7
e-mail address: Pkhamilton45 [at] gmail.commichaelschanbacherlexpb [at] gmail.com (
)phone number: 781-861-3939

Community Activities: 

• Lexington Conservation Commission since 1992
• Vice Chair 2000-2014
• Chair since 2014
• Town Meeting Member 1999-2005, 2015-2024
• Resident of Lexington since 1988
• Retired law professor

Article 43 on the 2024 Town Warrant is asking if the Town will authorize and request the Select Board to petition the General Court of the Commonwealth for Home Rule Legislation to allow any citizens in the Town of Lexington, who have reached the age of 16 or older, to register and vote in municipal elections within the Town, or to take any action in relative thereto. Would you support this article? Why or why not?

I am in favor of allowing residents aged 16 and 17 to vote in municipal elections. I think that people of that age who are motivated to vote are likely to take voting seriously, to educate themselves about the local issues and to learn a lot from the process. I also suspect that people who vote regularly as teenagers will be more likely to vote regularly as adults.