Get Out the Vote

Action Item from Northeast VT On Guard

Hello, Patient Activists,

We have a first action for our 2018 focus on the mid-term elections: register high school students to vote (see below). 

Action:  Ask your high school to help register students

Election Day is November 6, 2018 in Vermont.

ACLU People Power is leading a movement in Vermont and around the country to convince school boards to facilitate voter registration among eligible high school students.  Our high schools can put young Vermont voters on a path to a lifetime of civic participation by making it as easy as possible to register.  Vermont has a statewide High School Voter Registration Program, through which registration materials are made available to students.  However, local schools implement the program, and the commitment varies.

Call the president of your school board or attend a school board meeting to find out what your high school is doing to encourage voter registration.  If they’re not doing it already, urge the board to adopt programs to facilitate youth registration, for example:

(1) distribute registration forms to all eligible 17- and 18-year-olds in each school, at least once per semester

(2) establish a clear system for collecting completed registration forms (if not done online);

(3) invite town clerks annually to visit schools and address students.

Thanks,

Lynne Lawson