Even though the 26th Amendment created a constitutional right to vote beginning at age 18 and granted Congress the power to enforce this right through legislation, Congress has done little to enforce youth voting rights.
The New York Legislature has already passed S1733, requiring high schools to develop policies and procedures to encourage students in grades 10, 11 and 12 to register or preregister to vote. The bill is awaiting Governor Hochul's signature.
I'm in the Dallas area, and I'm sure most of you know that Texas is one of THE hardest states in which to register and vote, and that includes not making this easy for young voters.
We have some non-profits working on this with high schools--varying success.
I'm also trying an individual project, as I feel sometimes that personal touch may make a difference. In my area, families often put out "Senior 202x" signs for high school graduates. I've made a "congratulations" packet with a card, message on how to register, mail-in registration, and a vote411.org pen. I don't know the graduate's name, but I'm still keeping a spreadsheet so I can send postcards out before November.
This is self-funding, and I don't know (and may never know) if it will have impact, but I just want to do all I can, plus I walk a lot anyway:-)
Great to see. You are absolutely right about Texas, of course. Young people have to wait until they are 17 years and 10 months before they can register. It is necessary to obtain a certification to collect voter registration forms. We've been involved with efforts, and there is a lot of energy in the state. You can encourage students and educators to attend a Run-A-Drive workshop. https://www.thecivicscenter.org/voter-registration-drive
I'm a new subscriber, but have had my eyes on The Civic Center for several months. I'm very interested in doing what I can to encourage HS seniors to register and vote. To that end, I drafted a letter to incoming HS seniors that I hoped would find a medium for dissemination. I wrote it from my perspective as a junior senior, old enough to be their grandfather. Do you think it could be useful?
Thank you! I just used it to send a message. I appreciate this call to action so much. It sometimes feels disheartening to be surrounded by all of the very good coverage of the ways in which our democracy is under threat but to not see concrete actions I can take. Taking action even in a small way removes the feeling of helplessness. It’s one reason I love Jessica Craven’s work so much. Hope is an action... 🙂 Thanks again!
The New York Legislature has already passed S1733, requiring high schools to develop policies and procedures to encourage students in grades 10, 11 and 12 to register or preregister to vote. The bill is awaiting Governor Hochul's signature.
That’s right! The form is directed to asking the Governor to sign the bill. We’ll update the post. Thanks for the note.
I'm in the Dallas area, and I'm sure most of you know that Texas is one of THE hardest states in which to register and vote, and that includes not making this easy for young voters.
We have some non-profits working on this with high schools--varying success.
I'm also trying an individual project, as I feel sometimes that personal touch may make a difference. In my area, families often put out "Senior 202x" signs for high school graduates. I've made a "congratulations" packet with a card, message on how to register, mail-in registration, and a vote411.org pen. I don't know the graduate's name, but I'm still keeping a spreadsheet so I can send postcards out before November.
This is self-funding, and I don't know (and may never know) if it will have impact, but I just want to do all I can, plus I walk a lot anyway:-)
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jYUJe4YE1RTcC89Gs4Shu-35KXNma6ff/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=101527070974081088657&rtpof=true&sd=true
Great to see. You are absolutely right about Texas, of course. Young people have to wait until they are 17 years and 10 months before they can register. It is necessary to obtain a certification to collect voter registration forms. We've been involved with efforts, and there is a lot of energy in the state. You can encourage students and educators to attend a Run-A-Drive workshop. https://www.thecivicscenter.org/voter-registration-drive
Hi Laura,
I'm a new subscriber, but have had my eyes on The Civic Center for several months. I'm very interested in doing what I can to encourage HS seniors to register and vote. To that end, I drafted a letter to incoming HS seniors that I hoped would find a medium for dissemination. I wrote it from my perspective as a junior senior, old enough to be their grandfather. Do you think it could be useful?
Here's a link: https://open.substack.com/pub/bobmorgan/p/junior-senior-to-a-junior-becoming
So happy to see this. Thank you for sharing it. Reaching out to your own network can make a huge difference. And encourage them to do the same.
I’m having trouble getting the link in support of the FTVA to work. Would you mind double-checking it? Thanks!
Midori, it should be fixed now. Please give it another try. Thanks again for flagging.
Thank you! I just used it to send a message. I appreciate this call to action so much. It sometimes feels disheartening to be surrounded by all of the very good coverage of the ways in which our democracy is under threat but to not see concrete actions I can take. Taking action even in a small way removes the feeling of helplessness. It’s one reason I love Jessica Craven’s work so much. Hope is an action... 🙂 Thanks again!
Thanks for flagging. We’ll take a look and finger that fixed!
And *get* that fixed!!