In addition to graduating high school, most seniors are on the verge of another milestone - the first time they’ll be able to vote! To make the process easier, the senior class at Walt Whitman High School was invited to the school’s annual Voter Registration Breakfast on April 11th in the South Cafeteria.
Along with bagels and juice, every student got a voter registration form. They filled out the forms at the breakfast so that school administrators and representatives from the League of Women Voters could help answer any questions or quickly solve issues the students had while filling out the form. 16- and 17-year-olds in New York can pre-register to vote, meaning they are automatically registered voters when they turn 18, allowing more students to participate in future elections.
“It's important that you have a voice,” principal John Murphy told students. “It's important that you use that voice, and one of the biggest ways to use that is to vote.” South Huntington Board of Education President Nicholas Ciappetta explained to students that voting is their “civic responsibility” and reminded them that their first opportunity to exercise that right - if they’ve turned 18 by then - will be on May 21st when the school board elections and school budget vote are held. “Don't just vote in presidential elections. Your local elections are just as important. Your town election, your school board, your fire department. Vote in every opportunity that you can because the right to vote is essential,” said Mr. Ciappetta.
That sentiment was echoed by Huntingtown Town Supervisor Ed Smyth who was invited to speak with students. He also explained how choosing a political party affiliation when registering allows someone to vote in a primary. He had one more bit of advice aimed at getting more voters to the polls. “Never vote alone on election day,” suggested Mr. Smyth. “Gather your friends, go to the polls. Vote early and vote often. The right way is to show up with your friends at the polling place and vote together.”
The lowest voter turnout in the United States is typically the youth vote, ages 18-29. Senior Jaren Smullian, who turns 18 in April, is already planning to cast his ballot in next month’s school budget vote, and believes that events like this breakfast will get more young people to the polls. “I think people my age are very tempted not to vote because they see what goes on in the news. They hear what their parents talk about. And I feel like the mindset these days is out of sight, out of mind. And they just don't register. And people don’t get enough education on how our political system works,” said Jaren.
Deborah Cosher, Vice President of the League of Women Voters of Huntington and co-chair of the Voter Services and Youth Committee would like to see more civics lessons taught in school, and at a much younger age and consistently throughout the grades. “I think they need to be made aware,” explained Ms. Cosher. “What does it mean to you? What's your passion? What's your ambition? What is it you want to see different in your community? Start from there. So by the time they're 18, they don't say, ‘What am I voting for?’”
For answers about voter registration or voting in general, log onto https://www.vote411.org.