High School Voter Registration is continuing – a report by team leader Roddy Wares.
LWVAAA members will be going to high schools this October and early November to register students using presentations revised to reflect changes in the voting laws due to Prop 3. All of the schools that we visited in the spring of 2018 and 2019 are eager to have us return. We are going this fall (rather than in the spring) so that students will be eligible to vote in the Primaries on March 10 and we will make short visits back to the schools in April and May to register students who are too young this fall to register.
We’ll also be returning to WCC this coming February and March to register their students to vote.
In addition to registering the young people we also educate them about how, when and where to vote; how to vote early and away from home; and where to find information about elections, candidates and proposals. We encourage them to sign up for Turbovote.org, which not only provides most of the information that we share with the students, it also reminds them by text or email of when and where to vote and when absentee ballots and early voting are available. Last year 43% of University of Michigan undergraduates joined Turbovote.
We're helping to make a difference. Data from the Michigan Bureau of Elections compares the turnout of 18-21 year-olds in Washtenaw County between 2014 and 2018.
|
|
2014 |
2018 |
Increase |
|
Number voting |
2,898 |
10,640 |
7,742 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
% of registered young voters who voted |
21% |
60% ** |
|
|
Young voters were what % of total vote |
2 |
6% |
|
**At 60%, Washtenaw County had the highest percentage turnout among this age group.
You probably know that the presidential election in Michigan was determined by 10,704 votes. The University of Michigan, LWVAAA and WCC all played a part in this.
Acknowledgements: Our wonderful committee of experienced volunteers includes Lynne Kochmanski, Lois Kramer, Trudy Hughes, Jeff Bieszki and Julie Roth. Trish Reilly and Edwin Pearl from the Washtenaw County Clerk’s office have been invaluable as they visit many of our schools with us to provide expertise and registration forms. At WCC Peter Leshkevich, Director of Student Development and Activities and intern Matea Pejic helped set us up for four weeks in Sept. and October 2018. During that time 48 LWV volunteers filled 96 two-hour assignments and registered 399 students.
