The League of Women Voters of Ventura County has had an exciting year expanding civic engagement throughout our community. We registered over 1,400 young voters across 22 high schools in 7 districts and launched our Youth Council with 11 students, helping to build the foundation for a more engaged and informed electorate.
Our new Youth Council members are tackling important issues like climate change, homelessness, and mental health awareness. We've also supported student-led initiatives, including helping an Oak Park student with her voter registration series after she established a campus club focused on civic engagement and voting rights.
As we look ahead, we're preparing for another season of voter registration and civic education. Our upcoming volunteer training sessions offer both new and experienced volunteers the opportunity to join this work, using updated materials and proven strategies to connect with young voters during the fall registration period.
The work continues, and we invite you to be part of it. Together, we're not just registering voters – we're building a more informed, engaged, and participatory democracy for Ventura County.
Our Accomplishments
How many students we registered
- Last Fall We visited 22 high schools in 7 districts and spoke to 3481 students.
- Of those, 215 were already registered (6%)
- we registered an additional 1107 students
- for a total of 1322 students registered (38% of all students)
- Last Spring We visited Newbury Park HS and spoke with 118 students.
- Of those, 15 were already registered (12%)
- we registered and additional 39 students
- for a total of 54 students registered (45% of all students)
Student-Led voter registration in Spring
- This Spring LWVVC received a $500 grant to be used in youth voter registration activities.
- We used the funds to help an Oak Park student, Kelsey Frieborn, with her Girl Scout Gold Award.
- She established a club on campus called H.E.R. (Helping Equality Rise) that initially focused on women’s issues and how taking action can make a difference.
- She expanded her focus to include voting rights and asked us to help her run a voter registration drive on campus.
- For 3 Fridays during a 55-minute lunch period, she and 7 other students engaged students in games about civics and government, identifying famous women, discussing ways students can get involved in their community, and registering them to vote.
- They had 60-80 students visit their tables each of the 3 weeks.
- Subsequently, she was eager to be part of a new Youth Council for Ventura County, sponsored and supported by LWVVC.
Newly formed LWVVC Youth Council
- In March we started our LWVVC Youth Council with 2 high school students initiating it and attracting more students to join.
- We currently have 11 students and they have selected 3 areas of concentration: Climate Change; Homelessness; Mental Health Awareness.
- Several have attended our events this Spring: The Federal Judiciary Study; “Civil Rights vs Civil Liberties” event with ACLU; Our Annual Meeting; Our Volunteer Recruitment event.
- They are energetic, smart, engaged young people from St. Buenaventura High School; Oak Park High School; Westlake High School; and Agoura High School.
- Watch for more to come from them.
Upcoming Opportunities to Join Us
High School Voter Registration Weeks are the last two weeks of Sept and April.
Our voter registration project starts at the end of August and goes through mid-October.
We need volunteers to help in the presentations in the classrooms. Come join us - you will always be with someone with more experience, and it is FUN!
Volunteer Training for Voter Registration
This training is for new and seasoned voter registration volunteers - we have new materials to keep the students engaged. We still cover the voter registration form. You only need to attend ONE session.
Any questions, contact lwvvc.info [at] gmail.com (Subject: LWVVC%20Voter%20Registration%20Training) (Betsy Patterson).
Please sign up for the training below:
