Eleventh grader Armani Madden was among the academy students who planned to take what they learned Saturday and present to their classmates.
“Voting is important to see the change that you want,” she said. “You can’t just sit home.”
Academy seniors Tracy Lee and Kayla Lawson learned how to register others to vote Saturday as Delaware County poll worker coordinator Christina Iacono was recruiting people to work at the polls.
Lawson said voting and getting involved was a way “to get our voices seen and heard.”
Shirlene Laws has been civically involved for decades, having served as a poll worker for approximately 20 years and as judge of elections for the last decade at Chester City 1-2 at the Chester Park Barn.
She said it was important to inform the public about the voting process and about candidates.
“They come in a lot of times asking me, ‘Who should I vote for?’ and I have to tell them, ‘I cannot point you to any one person,’ ” Laws said.
Of Saturday’s event, she said, “I think it’s great. I think they need to do it again because I think it’ll grow.”
Delaware County Councilman Richard Womack wanted participants to know that elections in Delaware County are safe and valid.
“There’s a lot of misconcepts about the security of our election and how it’s been handled: the transparency, the counting of our ballots,” he said. “We have a process. Everything is accounted for. There were many lawsuits filed and there was not one — not one — that found any wrongdoings.”
He commended the county staff in making certain the election system is safe.
“I have not seen any fraudulent things happening,” Womack said. “We have a system that shows that you cannot vote twice. There’s no two ballots that can be counted for one person.”
He said he’s willing to have a conversation with anyone regarding the election process in Delaware County.
Carol Kazeem, the Democratic candidate for the 159th state legislative race, commended the students for coming Saturday.
“They need to start understanding what this means for them and their schools,” she said. “Everything that has to do with voting also reflects back on their schools. Them coming to understand why is it important about voting, it also helps those seniors who are about to graduate, who are about to go into college, who are about to go into careers, they need to understand why things are the way they are and how they can make that change as young adults.
“Starting early is very important so we can be able to change our mindset here,” Kazeem said. “We want them to understand that they do matter.”
The League of Women Voters saw Saturday’s event as an extension of the work they do with a focus on diversity, equity and inclusion.
“Civic participation is essential to the health and wellness of local communities and Chester City,” Barbara Amstutz of the League of Women Voters said. “In addition to allowing citizens the opportunity to influence policy and local priorities, strong engagement leads to higher levels of trust and stronger, happier communities.”