In this file image, voters cast their ballots at a polling station in Alhambra on Nov. 4, 2014. (Credit: FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/Getty Images)

This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.

California would become the first state in the nation to fully allow 17-year-olds to vote in elections under a proposal introduced on Tuesday in the Legislature.

“We want to expand the opportunity,” said Assemblyman Evan Low (D-Campbell), author of the constitutional amendment that would have to be approved by a statewide vote in 2018.

Although other states allow 17-year-old citizens to vote in a primary as long as they will be 18 by the time of the general election, the proposal introduced by Low and a bipartisan group of young legislators would empower younger voters to cast ballots.

Low said 18-year-olds are often in a transition phase between high school and living on their own, and that voting habits begin early.

Click here to read the full story on LATimes.com.

36.778261 -119.417932