We often hear “you’re never too old” when it comes to doing something.

But what about not being too young?

Being too young is exactly the problem 20-year-old John Moore of Hendersonville, North Carolina is having.

Moore wants to run for a seat on the Hendersonville City Council — elections are this November.

But the Henderson County Board of Elections says that he can’t run because he’s too young. 

“His age qualification was a problem,” Elections Board director Beverly Cunningham told North Carolina’s WLOS ABC 13. “He turned 20 recently, and won’t turn 21 before the election.”

Moore believes his age is one of his positive attributes. “I think it’s important that young people have a place in government,” he said. “I think that young people should have a place in political discourse.”

The decisions made by the council will certainly have an effect on Hendersonville’s under 21-set, so it does seem fair that they would have a voice.

Moore said he doesn't want a seat at the table just to represent the youth, but also his town’s black population. “This year marks 20 years since there’s been an African American on the Hendersonville City Council.”

Although Moore said that he finds it “a little unsettling that I’ve been denied,” he will not give up. Late this week, he submitted a request for an appeal of the election board’s decision.

After receiving his petition, Director Cunningham didn’t seem optimistic about Moore’s chances. “The board did express to him yesterday that they were really grateful for his interest as a young person in wanting to run for elective office,” she said.

For his part, Moore plans to fight until the bitter end. “I was not prepared to take ‘no’ for an answer yesterday, and I’m not prepared to take it today.”

Only human, Moore also expressed his frustration at the opposition he’s faced so far. “It’s a little unsettling to me, in a process like this, that I’ve been denied because our political process asks for more participation from young people.”

Why ask for youth participation, then reject it when it comes? 

True youth participation in politics, Moore said, “doesn’t happen when we can’t be involved in the process.”

We don’t endorse political candidates here at Blavity, but we do hope that regardless of how this turns out, those running for office everywhere in the world remember these words of Moore’s: he told WLOS that he plans to be a “public servant, not a politician.”