SPRINGFIELD - Seventeen-year-olds can serve in the military, drive cars and hold down jobs. But until they turn 18, they cannot vote.

That could change in Illinois if state Rep. Lou Lang, D-Skokie, has his way. Lang has proposed a state constitutional amendment to lower the voting age in Illinois to 17.

"I think it's time we consider doing this," Lang said, noting that in the last few voting cycles, voter turnout among 18-year-olds has improved during

"In many cases, we think nothing of sending a 17-year-old overseas" to fight in a war, he added.

Lang's measure is just one of several across the country that would change the voting age, in some cases, to as low as 16, as the youth vote is getting serious attention in the presidential race.

Eleven states already permit 17-year-olds to vote in the primary if they are 18 by the general election. Iowa, Washington and now Illinois have pending proposals to take that a step further and lower the voting age eligibility for all elections.

Alex Koroknay-Palicz, executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based National Youth Rights Association, said his group is pushing for the voting age to be 16 across the country.

The U.S. Constitution, which lowered the mandatory voting age to 18 in 1971, says only that states must permit citizens age 18 and older to vote.

The proposal is HJRCA29.