Voter Registration at Seven High Schools
Jean Scribner | Published on 11/11/2023
The League has completed fall voter registration for Whatcom County High School students this week. We registered 194 students from 7 schools. Shannon Eubank from Sehome High School again conducted her fall week-long student-led voter registration drive in conjunction with a social studies unit she teaches. These students registered 111 students!
This fall, besides holding events during school lunch hours, four teachers from Nooksack, Lynden, Options and Community Transitions invited us to speak to students in their classrooms. The opportunity to meet students in their classrooms with their teachers impacts their decision to register. For the first time we tabled at the Meridian School District Resource Fair; this seems to be a trend for many county schools. We hope to get the League at more of these events next fall. We were again invited to the North Whatcom County College and Career Fair held at Lynden High School.
We still meet students who want to register or need a nudge to get registered despite 16-year-olds being able to register to vote when they get their driver’s license. When I was first asked by Annette Holcomb if I was interested in registering high school students, I was excited about this opportunity. The League’s program for registering high school students officially started in the Spring of 2018; though we only had time to go to four county schools, we registered 114 of which 76 were from Ferndale High School.
Since 2018 fall and spring registrations have been held at our county high schools. Even during the pandemic, registration packets were distributed to the graduating seniors. Students and staff expect us and often students approach us to let us know they registered when we were last in their school. I continue to enjoy registering our young people.
I am thankful for the League members who volunteered their time at the 2023 fall high school events; Diane Smith, Eileen McCracken, Carole Hanaway, Annette Holcomb, Marge Laidlaw, Susan Greisen and Cam Kerst. Thank you so much for being willing to work with our young people.
Jean Scribner