Voter Registration in High Schools and Colleges Across America

As America gets ready for a politically tense election on Nov. 5, over 8 million youth now are eligible to vote in the election as compared to the 2022 midterms. Currently, the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement notes that these 8 million youth are part of the almost 41 million Gen Z who can cast a ballot. 

Across the country, many youth are working to get their peers informed about the voting process and registered to vote. 

Julia Low, a 17-year-old rising senior at James Bowie High School in Austin, Texas, has registered 120 students in the Austin area by serving as the president and founder of the voter registration club in her high school. 

“I got involved in voter registration after realizing that registration in Texas was only becoming more complex and was leading to fewer young individuals registering and voting,” Low said. Through her high school’s library and her relationships with other students, she has been able to help her peers with the registration process. She has also found social media and outreach to be useful as she posts on her personal account about voter registration to reach peers. 

In her school, Low is only able to register voters who meet the criteria of being 17 and 10 months old. Most students she has registered plan to vote in the election. 

Through her work, she has seen her peers embody different attitudes when it comes to voting. Yet, she believes that more people might now vote due to Vice President Kamala Harris running as the Democratic nominee. Low also works to coordinate transportation for community members to the polls. 

Like Low, Chloe Lee is also working on voter registration efforts as a high school student. Lee is a 16-year-old rising senior at Scarsdale High School in Scarsdale, New York. She has worked with two nonprofit organizations, Dear Asian Youth and TurnUp. Her town usually utilizes the local schools for elections which Lee believes makes it more accessible. While she cannot vote during this election, she wants fellow New Yorkers and Americans to make sure they do. 

“I believe that voting is a right and responsibility that is part of our democracy that allows all of us to take an active role in the political process and contribute to the status of our country. Voting is super important, and I can’t wait for the day that I can vote!” Lee said.

Olivia Wee, a 21-year-old rising senior at Claremont McKenna College in Claremont, California, has also worked on registering voters for the upcoming election. She currently serves as Vice President of Every Vote Counts’ National Student Board, Co-President of Every Vote Counts Claremont (5C chapter), and Co-Founder and Student Director of the Claremont Initiative for Voter Engagement Strategies (CIVES). Claremont McKenna College is one of the 5 colleges in the Claremont Consortium, so Wee’s work has touched other schools within the campus. 

“Besides regular GOTV events at CMC, we are working with student organizations and governments at each of the 5 Claremont Colleges campuses to promote voting as part of campus culture. For the 2022 Midterm elections, we put together a 5C Pledge to Vote video with 5C student body presidents, sports teams, and student organizations. We will be bringing the 5C Pledge Initiative back this year and working to forge a 5C coalition of students and administrators dedicated to getting out the vote,” Wee said. 

During the 2022 Midterm Elections, Wee helped more than 190 students with at least one part of the voting process through events and tabling focused on voting. In addition, Claremont McKenna College’s Dean of Students Office was involved in adding voter registration to first-year and transfer orientation last summer. Yet, Wee worries about the demographic of college voters who might need absentee ballots to cast a ballot. 

“I have found that my club usually is needed more in assisting students with mail-in voting than registering to vote. Each state is different and the process requires voters to be super proactive. I have seen students want to vote, but unfortunately have missed their state-specific deadline to request their mail-in ballot,” Wee said. 

Logan Tullai, a 21-year-old rising senior at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, is also part of his college’s Every Vote Counts chapter. He has worked on voting registration efforts throughout college at his college and the national level. He currently serves as the National President of Every Vote Counts’ National Student Board and is the Chair of Advocacy for Brown Votes. 

He is grateful for the opportunity to have both Brown Votes and Brown Every Vote Counts on campus. 

“This combination has proven useful, with Brown Votes being in a unique position to focus on institutionalizing voting access measures into the University fabric, while Brown Every Vote Counts has the flexibility to engage in legislative advocacy, community-oriented registration, and research,” Tullai said. 

He sees Gen Z’s enthusiasm for the upcoming election. He hopes that this energy and the voter registration work he and his peers are involved in will result in Gen Z having higher turnout rates. 

“On campus, we certainly host traditional voter registration tabling events. But at Brown, we’ve really tried to focus on institutional methods, which are far more effective at engaging students. For example, we have state-specific emails sent to every student on campus informing them of their local voter registration and absentee ballot request deadlines. We specifically send these with enough time for them to complete any necessary forms before the deadlines in their state,” Tullai said. 

Ilana Drake is a journalist from New York City and attends school in Nashville. Follow her on X: @IlanaDrake_ 

Edited by Nykeya Woods