Concord – A bill that would let 17-year-olds vote in state and federal primaries ran into a flurry of questions about its constitutionality yesterday.

Senate Bill 436 would allow any 17-year-old who turns 18 by the date of a general election to vote in a primary.

Some critics said the bill would allow some to cast votes up to nine months before their 18th birthday, assuming the Presidential Primary continues to be held in January or February.

A key question for the committee is whether a primary is an election under state law.

Senate Majority Leader Joseph Foster, D-Nashua, sponsor of the bill, said a primary is a selection process for each party to nominate a candidate.

Opponents of the bill said state law defines an election as an event where voters choose a public officer, a convention delegate or a nominee for public office.

Foster and other supporters said it is important to get voters involved when they are young.

"We often bemoan the participation level of young voters in our elections," Foster said. "If they get that good habit of voting going early, they will stay with us."

The bill was suggested to Foster by his daughter, a member of the Legislative Youth Advisory Council.

LYAC co-chair Brendan Bertagnoll, a 16-year-old Goffstown High School senior, said 11 other states allow participation by those under 18. In those states, participation by voters 18-24 exceeds the national average, he said.

SB 436, he said, "would allow an entire class of high school seniors to participate not only in the election process, but would allow them to see politics as relevant."

Foster and Bertagnoll argued that the Constitution preserves and guarantees rights, such as voting at age 18, but it does not prevent the Legislature from expanding them.

Questions on the bill were serious enough that several members of the House Election Law Committee asked whether the state Supreme Court should be asked for an advisory opinion before the bill goes to the full House.

Senior Assistant Attorney General Richard Head said his office does not take a stand on the bill. But he raised some questions about it. If a primary is not an election, that causes a problem for state election laws governing primaries, he said.

Another area deals with equal voting rights. The Constitution guarantees equal voting rights to all citizens 18 and older. Head said adding 17-year-olds into the mix might be seen as a dilution of that right.