Future Voters and Gaps in Our Democracy

INTRODUCTION

Future Voters and Gaps in Our Democracy A Report and Call to Action on the 50th Anniversary of the 26th Amendment

By Laura W. Brill, Andrea R. Hartman, Vicki C. Shapiro, James F. Wenz PUBLICATION DATE: MARCH 23, 2021

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INTRODUCTION

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CONTENTS 4

INTRODUCTION

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PART 1: NATIONAL OVERVIEW

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PART 2: L.A. INTERIM REPORT

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PART 3: A CALL TO ACTION

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CONCLUSION

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APPENDIX

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

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INTRODUCTION In 1971, young people fought for and won the right to vote beginning at age 18.

Youth political engagement is once again on the rise. Despite recent gains, however, youth electoral participation continues to lag behind participation rates of older voters. Those who care about our youth and our democracy are looking for solutions. Our existing institutions and resources deserve our attention as we assess how best to cultivate an engaged and informed electorate and how to teach young people the value of democracy.

These goals are as critical to our country now, as they were in 1971.

INTRODUCTION

High school voter registration is the most promising tool for increasing civic participation for young people in the United States today.

It is also the most under-appreciated.

Roughly four million young people turn 18 every year. In every state in the country, the laws in effect today allow virtually all high school seniors to register to vote prior to their 18th birthday— so that they can begin to vote as soon as they turn 18.

We need educational, policy, social, and cultural commitments to reach young people while they are still in high school and prepare them to participate in our democracy as young adults. Yet, at the national, state, local, and school district levels, most of our institutions, representatives, officers, and candidates do nothing or close to nothing to help these students register to vote.

It is not supposed to be this way. On March 23, 1971—fifty years ago today— Congress approved the 26th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which guarantees the right to vote in every state beginning at age 18. That right falls far short of its promise when our institutions fail to recognize the needs of young people and fail to support them in taking the steps needed to register to vote.

This report takes this 50 year anniversary of the 26th Amendment as an opportunity to shine a light on the legal, policy, and administrative opportunities we have to improve youth voter registration, as part of a larger effort to promote civic engagement, educate voters, and strengthen our democracy. We provide an overview of the national picture and a detailed look at school districts in Los Angeles County, California—the nation’s most populous county—with 10 million residents, 88 cities, and more than 50 public school districts with high schools.

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Opportunities abound.

What we see is potential—enormous, unmet potential. We see young people who want to make a difference. We see tools to help them. We see effective programs that work. We see dedicated professionals, often working in isolation, but nonetheless bringing the values of our democracy to students in educationally appropriate, nonpartisan ways that cross ideology, economics, and demographics. We see heads nodding with enthusiasm that young people deserve an equal voice in defining our shared future.

And between opportunity and enthusiasm on the one hand, and reality on the other, we see enormous gaps. We see gaps in awareness and understanding, gaps in resources, gaps in vision, gaps in policy, gaps in planning, and gaps in funding.

We see gaps in leadership, organizing, and commitment.

We need to meet the challenge.

If we learned anything from the 2020 election, we learned that our democracy is fragile, but the signs have been there for years. In 2016, scholars Roberto Stefan Foa and Yascha Mounk reported that just over 30% of millennials in the United States ranked as “essential” the ability to “live in a country that is governed democratically.”

The Economist’s Democracy Index assessed in 2016 that the United States had fallen from a “full democracy” to a “flawed democracy,” and our scores have continued to decline. We are polarized. We do not trust elected officials. We do not trust political parties.

In 2013, the Supreme Court invalidated one of the core provisions of the Voting Rights Act, in a ruling that Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg likened to “throwing away your umbrella in a rainstorm because you are not getting wet.” The step has

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resulted in a significant increase in voter suppression laws, many of which disproportionately affect young people and people of color, and which further damage faith in our system. We are subject to disinformation campaigns and media manipulation, fueling racism, anti-immigrant resentments, and other efforts at division and dehumanization. The challenges are not pretty.

53% is not a good grade.

We also saw in 2020 that young people want to get involved. Policy choices made today on issues like climate change, economic opportunity, educational excellence, racial justice, gender and LGBTQ+ equality, gun violence, policing, housing, student debt, and health care will impact them for decades to come.

News reports in 2020 applauded record-setting national youth citizen turn-out estimated at 53%. And yet, young people achieved this record despite enormous obstacles associated with the pandemic, such as the cancellation of events with voter registration opportunities, and with little help or attention from the political parties or candidates, whose sites and resources are generally fixed on “likely” voters.

Georgia deserves special attention for doubling the youth share of the electorate between 2016 and 2020. Georgia’s achievement did not happen overnight, but built upon years of painstaking organizing.

Still, records aside, it is worth pausing to note that we ought not be too jubilant about hitting a national youth citizen turnout rate of 53%. In most grading systems, 53% is not passing. It is not even close. And in California, which is a focus of this report, the number was far lower. According to the Center for Inclusive Democracy at the University of Southern California, it is just 47.4%.

So, the question is now, what structural and cultural changes can we insist on to bring the promise of the 26th Amendment to life?

INTRODUCTION

The 2022 midterm elections are less than 20 months away. Planning is already gearing up for 34 U.S. Senate seats and 36 governorships.

Congressional races will take place in every district, and more than 6,000 state legislative seats will be up for grabs over the next two years, not to mention the hundreds of thousands of positions in local elections.

Young people have the power and the numbers to decide many close races. The number of young people turning 18 by November 2022 and 2024 dwarfs the 2020 margin of victory for the Presidential candidate who received the most votes in the closest states.

While national data are not yet available, snapshots from a variety of jurisdictions support what we know from our experience working with young people across the country. Young people are not the problem.

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INTRODUCTION

The biggest barrier to youth electoral participation is not young people; it’s voter registration.

Millions of young people have graduated from high school in the past four years without registering to vote. Unless we start to mark a better path, a huge percentage of the seniors set to graduate from high school this spring will begin their adult lives disenfranchised, and the pattern will continue. Especially for youth who are not college-bound, once they graduate high school, they are much harder to reach.

This report—presented in three parts—provides data, analysis, and a call to action with a goal of bringing the promise of the 26th Amendment to life. Part 1 provides a national overview of the opportunities and obstacles to youth voter registration. Part 2 provides interim results of our 2021 Los Angeles pilot project, which we launched in January 2021 to both investigate the low percentage of student preregistration and to improve the infrastructure for high school voter registration in the nation’s largest county through education, organizing, and advocacy. Part 3 marks promising paths for improvement, with a call to action for students, parents, educators, election officials, policy makers, nonprofits, and philanthropies.

The Civics Center is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization based in Los Angeles and founded in September 2018 to focus on improving high school voter registration rates nationwide. The Civics Center is a project of Community Partners, a 501(c)(3) organization.

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PART 1:

National Overview We see enormous opportunities for increasing youth political participation by improving the infrastructure for high school voter registration.

In the days before the runoffs for the Georgia U.S. Senate seats in 2021, we took a poll of Georgia college students. We asked “How old do young people have to be before they can register or preregister to vote in Georgia?” We received hundreds of responses. Only 52% answered correctly. Before jumping to criticize young Georgians, we ask that you please note down your own answer, and we’ll let you know at the end if you were right. No fair using a search engine to find the answer.

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How old do young people have to be before they can register or preregister to vote in Georgia? a. They can register at any time as long as they will be 18 by the next general election b. Age 17 c. Age 17 ½ EXTRA CREDIT: While we’re in pop-quiz mode, here’s one for extra credit: In your own state, how old do young people have to be before they can register or preregister to vote?

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PART 1: NATIONAL OVERVIEW

We were not surprised that only about half of respondents in Georgia knew the answer. Most people do not know the basic facts about the incredible opportunities we have in the United States to welcome young people into our democracy, starting with high school voter registration. How would they know? Funding for civics education has been gutted. And in any event, most civics curricula do not teach basic facts about voter registration.

To find the answers, see our map of state age requirements for voter registration.

Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis called states “laboratories of democracy,” and when it comes to youth voting, we have seen a lot of experiments. Cutting through all the variations, however, the headline we want to emphasize is this:

The overwhelming majority of young people in the United States are eligible to register to vote before they graduate from high school.

We use the term “pre-18 registration” to define this opportunity.

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The key details of pre-18 registration laws are as follows:

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states allow young people to register to vote at least two years before their first election in which they are eligible to vote.

Fifteen states and the District of Columbia create such systems by allowing pre-18 registration (sometimes called preregistration) as soon as a citizen turns 16-years-old. These states appear in light blue in our map. 1 Eight more states create this opportunity by allowing registration for those who will be 18 by the next general election in even years. We show these states in light purple. 2 In either system, students have two years while in high school not just to register, but to organize, to develop leadership skills, and to engage peers and people they may not yet know. Schools can help young people foster the habits that help democracy thrive.

Some people expect that only states with liberal political leanings would fall into this two-year category, but that assumption is not accurate. Many states, regardless of political hue, recognize that the peace and security that flow from a functioning democracy are more attainable when young people, before they turn 18, have a fair chance to organize with their peers and register to vote.

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states allow young people to register to vote at least one year before their first election.

Four states do this by accepting registrations as soon as young citizens turn 17. These states appear in medium blue in the map. 3 Eight other states accomplish a similar result by allowing registration for anyone turning 18 by the next November election day, starting over every year, instead of every other year. We show these in medium purple, above. 4

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The other states that require voter registration5 allow less than a full year for young people to sign up before their first election.

We see no reasonable justification for such laws, given the ease of creating a less restrictive alternative and the benefits to youth organizing and enfranchisement of doing so. We classify any such state law as a youth voter suppression law because it places unreasonable obstacles on youth voter registration, thereby denying young people an equal and reasonable opportunity to participate in the political process and to vote.

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Still, we do not want the unreasonableness of certain laws to lead us to ignore the windows of opportunity that remain. For example, even in Texas, an outlier that does not allow registration until age 17 and 10 months, possibilities exist. Most high school students graduate in late May or early June. Assuming birthdays are evenly distributed across each grade, the vast majority of seniors will turn 18 within two months of their graduation. 6 And, for those who answered our multiple choice question above, Georgia is another state in the youth voter suppression category, with a pre-18 registration window starting at age 17 ½.

Pre-18 registration offers enormous benefits to future voters. Why register students to vote when they may have to wait a year or even two before they can actually vote? The benefits can be significant. As noted, pre-18 registration gives students up to two years to learn how and why to register to vote so they can participate in the first election after turning 18.

Registering early also helps students see themselves as part of the political process. If they wish to speak out on public issues or contact elected officials, they are doing so as people who plan to vote soon and to whom elected officials should be responsive. Students can use the opportunity to lead and to collaborate with their peers and learn in a comfortable setting how their voices can influence democracy. They can develop leadership skills across economic, regional, ideological, ethnic, religious, and other cultural divides.

As noted above, high schools also provide the best environment in which to reach youth who are not college bound, since once they enter the workforce, they are less likely to be surrounded by a community of peers who share similar concerns and experiences and are close to voting for the first time. High schools have every reason to make registration a rite of passage, like graduation, prom, and homecoming.

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Yet the potential of high school voter registration has not been realized. While some states perform better than others, there is ample room to do better in every state. (See our previous reports on the following: Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, and Utah.)

But, you may ask, will increasing high school voter registration lead to higher youth turnout? According to research by John Holbein of the University of Virginia and D. Sunshine Hillygus of Duke University, the answer is yes. Pre-18 registration “has positive and significant effects on young voters’ participation rates.” Anthony Fowler at the University of Chicago also finds that pre-18 registration makes a difference. And evidence showing that the turnout gap among registered young and older voters is much smaller than the registration gap between these groups also demonstrates that registering more young people to vote will translate into more young people actually voting.

You may ask further, if high school voter registration is so great, what are the obstacles that stand in the way? Read on. Although the list of obstacles is long, many opportunities for improvement are clear and straightforward. The key is making a decision and accepting responsibility to do something about it.

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Barriers to high school voter registration: • AWARENESS • CIVICS EDUCATION • DATA • FUNDING • POLICY AND PLANNING • ENFORCEMENT • UNIFORM ABILITY TO REGISTER AT AGE 16 • CLEAR RESPONSIBILITY AND ACCOUNTABILITY • STEREOTYPES • SUPPRESSION • SYSTEMS DESIGN

PART 1: NATIONAL OVERVIEW

Lack of Awareness: Most people do not know that high school students are generally eligible to register to vote before they graduate from high school and that pre-18 registration will result in higher turnout.

Lack of Civics Education: Civics education today, which could provide a • framework for nonpartisan high school voter registration, is a shell of what it once was. According to Harvard professor Danielle Allen, “we currently spend $54 per year per kid of federal dollars on STEM education and only 5 • cents per year per kid on civics.” The defunding of civics education has left us without a shared understanding of the Constitution, electoral processes, or the role of and limitations on government in solving problems.

Lack of Data: Timely and accurate data regarding registration rates for those in the youngest age categories (pre-18, 18, and 19) is almost nonexistent and is burdensome to obtain and compile. In many states, election officials (Secretaries of State, boards of elections, and county registrars) publish no pre-18 data at all. Equally lacking are regular reports • by schools and school districts regarding their voter registration efforts and outcomes. Access to voter files in many states is expensive.

Lack of Funding: At the national, state, local, and school district levels, there is virtually no budget for high school voter registration. Philanthropy has not made up the difference. In a world that has politicized participation in democracy itself, large foundations that focus on education often steer clear of anything relating to voting. Most private funders focused on democracy have not yet focused on the seriousness of youth voter suppression and the opportunities to make a difference. Some assume, incorrectly, that passing laws to require online voter registration and automatic voter registration through Departments of Motor Vehicles will fix the barriers faced by youth voters.

Lack of Policy and Planning: Without adequate funding, most school districts have no programs, plans, or policies to provide universal and equitable opportunities for high school voter registration. In the absence of policy, many educators who would like to help with such efforts fear that parents or administrators will not support their efforts.

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Lack of Enforcement: Congress has power to enforce the 26th Amendment.

States have power to regulate elections and voter registration. School districts have power to create programs and policies. Once enacted, national, state, and local officials have power to monitor progress and take steps to ensure positive results. Almost none of this is happening in a way to effectively and equitably enfranchise our youngest voters.

Lack of Uniform Ability to Register at Age 16: State laws that impact youth voter registration vary enormously. The differences from state to state create challenges for effectively teaching young people about their right to register and to vote. These differences also impose a barrier to the creation of a cultural climate in which young people everywhere register to vote while still in high school and as a uniform rite of passage.

Lack of Clear Responsibility and Accountability: State and local laws and school district policies often do not make any specific person or group of people responsible for implementing effective nonpartisan programs to encourage voter registration.

Stereotypes: Expectations that young people will not turn out to vote and stereotypes that young people are apathetic also stand in the way.

These perspectives, while widespread, are false. Young people care about their futures. They care about their families and their communities.

Suppression: A raft of voter suppression laws are pending in various states.

Democracy is an avenue through which differences can be resolved. We live in a multicultural society, and the aim of voter suppression is to make some (especially BIPOC) citizens or groups count for less than others. Such laws are fundamentally dehumanizing and wrong. Laws that make it hard to vote and to register target the most vulnerable, and in addition to hurting minorities, hurt young people of every race disproportionately compared to older voters.

Some laws seem specifically designed to make it difficult for young people to have an equal voice. Strict ID laws, especially those that prefer gun licenses to school IDs, have a disparate and unjustifiable impact on young people.

Some laws require certain documentation to prove state residency and limit the kinds of accepted documentation to items that high school students

PART 1: NATIONAL OVERVIEW

or recent graduates are unlikely to have (such as utility bills and rent or mortgage receipts). A handful of states have enacted burdensome certificate requirements for anyone holding a voter registration drive who collects forms from new voters, and some impose criminal penalties for violations.

Systems design: Many positive voting reforms are not reaching young people as expected.

Automatic voter registration during Department of Motor Vehicle (DMV) transactions is one example. Many young people are not becoming licensed drivers, and so they are not interacting with DMV offices before they turn 18. Or, in some states, youth may obtain learner’s permits beginning at age 15 ½, before they are eligible to preregister to vote, and state data systems may not create a later opportunity for automatic registration at the appropriate time. Many online voter registration systems also have not operated well for young people, since many require the drivers’ licenses or state IDs that young people often do not have. If these systems were working well for our youngest voters, we would not continue to see low registration and preregistration rates for young people in California and across the country.

Every one of these barriers exists because people either decided to put them in place or did not organize to overcome them. With concerted effort, we can lift the barriers and create a climate in which we welcome young people into a democracy in which they will have an equal voice.

We now turn from the national picture to take a deep look at high school voter registration in school districts in Los Angeles County. We hope that by doing so, we can spark students, teachers, and policymakers to sharpen their efforts to improve high school voter registration rates, and to create a model that can be customized for use in many different parts of the country. We also hope to show that local efforts can make a difference in helping our democracy to flourish.

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PART 2:

High School Voter Registration in Los Angeles: An Interim Report In January 2021, The Civics Center embarked on a pilot project to confront obstacles to voter registration in school districts across Los Angeles County. With a population of ten million, Los Angeles is the nation’s most populous county, and has more residents than 41 states. The county is geographically larger than Rhode Island and Delaware. The county is racially and ethnically diverse, and more than half of its residents age 5 and older speak a language other than English at home. More than 20% of children between the ages of 5 and 17 live in poverty.

As part of California, Los Angeles benefits from laws that are generally hospitable to youth voter registration, yet youth political participation seriously lags. California allows preregistration beginning at age 16 and offers online voter registration, as well as automatic voter registration at the DMV. The California Legislature has specially designated High School Voter Education Weeks and created a new state seal to promote civic engagement.

Yet, comparing preregistration data to population statistics, just 11% of 16- and 17-year-old Californians are preregistered to vote, and in Los Angeles County, the rate is just 10%.

It seems that our schools and other institutions are just not taking advantage of these helpful laws. We wanted to understand where the disconnect is between the laws and the preregistration rate and the challenges different stakeholders have in taking advantage of these laws, and we wanted to give a nudge of encouragement to help bring these laws to life.

INTRODUCTION

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Our project embodies four core principles: .Youth

are at the center of their own political empowerment First, we believe it is not possible to tackle a problem like decades of low youth political participation without being in direct and regular communication with young people. We need to speak to young people about the issues that are important to them, teach them why democracy matters, and show them how they can organize, have a voice, and influence decisions. As part of our Los Angeles pilot project, we have created youth programs through which high school students have the opportunity to become democracy leaders in their communities.

Educators are key partners who want to help, but are overstretched and lack resources and support Our discussions with educators tell us that many want to focus more on civics, and they want to include practical and nonpartisan programs about voter registration and other civic engagement topics as part of their efforts. What they are missing are the time, training, and policy support to do so. As part of our pilot, we created a series of one-hour workshops to teach educators about the opportunities for voter registration and how to support students in their schools. Dozens of educators throughout Los Angeles County already have attended these programs.

PART 2: l.a. interim report

Laws and facts matter With a group of volunteers, we collected the laws governing voter registration in California, crafted model policies for school districts and boards, and issued public records requests to the dozens of school districts in Los Angeles County that have high schools. We asked for documents showing what they were doing to comply with legal requirements and to implement programs to take advantage of state laws enacted to encourage high school voter registration. We asked for information covering the past two school years to ensure that the pandemic would not be the sole cause of any lack of implementation.

We followed up with districts that did not respond, and we pointed to our resources to let them know we are here to help. We also analyzed the official voter file for Los Angeles County to identify and begin to understand variations among voter registration rates within the County..

Facts don’t fix themselves The challenges we identify did not crop up overnight, and they will not get fixed simply because we draw attention to them in this report.

Today’s registration rates do not exist in a vacuum. They are not inevitable, and fixing them is not magic. Whether they will improve depends on whether people decide to take action and whether and how they follow through. To do any of this effectively, we need to know where we are starting and where the challenges and bright spots are.

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Marshall Ganz teaches that leadership in the context of social change is “accepting responsibility to create conditions that enable others to achieve shared purpose in the face of uncertainty.” Leadership is what we need today.

We are issuing this interim report about high school voter registration in Los Angeles County school districts for several reasons. First, high school seniors are on track to be disenfranchised at an alarming rate; an interim report will provide schools and school districts, students, and parents time to make a difference before graduation. Second, not all school districts have responded to our public records requests, although we issued them two months ago and have sent multiple follow-up requests. Third, we are in a pandemic, and it is not our goal to shame school districts that have fallen short, but rather to help everyone see where they can improve.

Finally, we are issuing this report on the 50th anniversary of the 26th Amendment, and the time is right to use that Amendment to better effect.

We address the following: • The legal landscape that exists in California today to support high school voter registration.

Government resources available to schools and school districts to support high school voter registration.

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Steps we took to obtain data from school districts, the information we learned, and the challenges and opportunities school districts face to create a robust infrastructure to support high school voter registration.

Data relating to voter registration and turnout rates for 18year-old voters in the 2020 general election for more than 50 school districts in Los Angeles County that have high schools.

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1. The legal landscape offers opportunities for success The laws governing high school voter registration in California should set the state up for success. California has a number of laws designed to promote civics education and student voter preregistration and registration.

The Elections Code. By way of background, under Elections Code sections 2000 and 2102(d), any person who is at least 16-years-old and otherwise eligible to vote can preregister to vote. Once preregistered, the person will be automatically registered at age 18. From the perspective of elected officials or candidates eyeing their next positions, preregistered Californians who will be 18 by the next election should be just as important as registered voters because they will in fact be able to vote.

Several provisions in California’s Elections Code further support high school voter registration efforts. Through the Student Voter Registration Act of 2003, the Legislature states its intent that “every eligible high school . . . student receive a meaningful opportunity to apply to register to vote” and that every school do “all in its power to ensure that students are provided the opportunity and means to apply to register to vote.” Elec.

Code § 2146(e). The law specifically authorizes high schools to provide voter registration forms with orientation and graduation materials, to provide hyperlinks on school websites connecting to the Secretary of State’s electronic voter registration system, and to send email notices about voter registration to students.

The law requires every high school to identify a contact person to whom the Secretary of State can provide voter registration forms for the schools to distribute to students. Elec. Code § 2148(a). Additionally, the law allows high school students who are at least 16 years old to serve as poll workers. § 12302.

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The Education Code. The importance of teaching students about voting is reinforced in California’s Education Code. The law requires high school government and civics classes to include information about the importance of registering to vote, the various ways to vote, and how to become an informed voter. Educ. Code § 33540(b)(3). Under the Code, the last two weeks in both April and September are designated as High School Voter Education Weeks. § 49040(a).

During High School Voter Education Weeks, high schools “shall” allow people authorized by the county elections official on the school campus, in designated locations “reasonably accessible to all students,” to register students and school personnel to vote.

Further, high school principals may designate students to serve as voter outreach coordinators, who can coordinate election-related activities such as registration drives, mock elections, and debates. Educ. Code § 49041.

Most recently, in 2017, the legislature established a “State Seal of Civic Engagement” to encourage students in elementary through high school “to become civically engaged in democratic governmental institutions at the local, state, and national levels.” Educ. Code § 51470. The program formally launched in the Fall of 2020, when the State Board of Education adopted criteria for awarding the seal, which can be provided to students to affix to their transcripts or diplomas.

2. State government resources are available to help educators Based on this relatively robust legislative framework, the Secretary of State and the Department of Education have created resources for school districts, schools, and teachers to fulfill the Legislature’s intent that every high school give eligible students a meaningful opportunity to register to vote.

PART 2: l.a. interim report

California Secretary of State Resources The Secretary of State created a “Back to School Pre-Registration Toolkit” including information and social media resources for schools to spread the word and encourage eligible students to register or preregister to vote. To help educate teachers about voter eligibility and California’s voter registration process, the Secretary of State published Guidance for School Administrators and Teachers. And the Secretary of State has combined best practices for voter outreach in high school from various California counties into one document for all high schools to use in their outreach efforts.

More generally, the Secretary of State posts useful resources for youth voter registration efforts on its website.

In conjunction with the California Department of Education, the Secretary of State issued a letter to all county and district superintendents, charter school administrators, and high school principals on September 9, 2020 to encourage them to promote voter registration. The letter, similar to a letter sent in the past few years, highlighted the resources available on the Secretary of State’s website to help schools give students a meaningful opportunity to register to vote.

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California Department of Education Resources To implement the Education Code’s requirement in section 33540(b) (3) to include voter education in the American government and civics curriculum, the Department of Education, through the Instructional Quality Commission, included in the History/Social Science Framework for California Public Schools the following:

“[S]tudents should know how to register to vote—both online and by mail—what the requirements are for registration; how to request, fill out, and return an absentee ballot; what to expect on election day; how to find a polling place; and where and how to access and understand the voter information pamphlet and other materials to become an informed voter. While this information may vary from county to county, students preparing to vote can go to the Secretary of State’s Web page at http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/ as well as to their local registrar of voters to explore these topics. Teachers may want to consider an activity where students go through the above steps in order to help prepare them for the exercise of their rights as voting adults. Students should explore the effect of voter turnout on the democratic process. What difference does it make how large and diverse a proportion of the potential electorate actually participates in any given election?”

To assist schools in implementing the State Seal of Civic Engagement, the Department has created a website providing an extensive overview of the program and relevant resources, criteria and implementation guidance, and procedures and forms. Among the criteria required for a student to qualify for the Seal is participation in a civic engagement project that addresses a “real-world problem.” In helping students identify such projects, the Department encourages school districts “to form ongoing partnerships with community organizations.”

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More generally, the Department lists a variety of civics education resources on its website. While these resources are not targeted to voter registration in particular, they include curriculum and lesson plans to help students understand our collective history, past and current efforts to expand and suppress voting rights, and why students should participate in our democracy. Nongovernmental organizations also have extensive free resources for schools, educators, and students to use to help realize the Legislature’s vision

3. How we obtained data from school districts, what we learned, and the challenges and opportunities we found Our methods. As described in the preceding sections, California has numerous laws in effect to support and encourage high school voter registration. In addition, both government and nonprofit organizations offer helpful (and cost free) resources to support voter education as well as high school registration drives. Yet in California only 11% of 16- and 17-year-olds are preregistered; in Los Angeles County, it’s only 10%.

The Civics Center decided to take a deeper look at why these laws are not being implemented effectively and to understand the kinds of reforms that are most needed and most likely to work.

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We used the California Public Records Act to gather in-depth information relating to high school voter registration efforts. The Civics Center sent document requests (Requests) to 52 public school districts in Los Angeles County that include high schools. Our Requests asked districts to provide us with documents from the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 school years that related to student voter registration efforts. 7 In addition to collecting information through the Requests, The Civics Center also had conversations with administrators and educators from several districts and provided free workshops to dozens more.

Our goal in this interim report is to help all stakeholders understand the policies and resources available to promote high school voter registration and to make meaningful improvements before the end of the school year. Given the low levels of effective implementation that we observed in almost every school district, and given widespread lack of awareness of the opportunities, we do not identify specific districts as having fallen short. Instead, we identify a few districts that set a positive example.

What we learned. As of March 16, The Civics Center has received responses from 36 districts (about 70% of the districts to which we sent requests). The remaining 30% either requested an extension to provide information at a later date or have not yet responded, despite repeated requests. The chart to the right summarizes the results of our outreach to all 52 districts.

PART 2: l.a. interim report

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Levels of Voter Registration Activity in School Districts

@THECIVICSCENTER

If schools and districts were implementing robust programs to support voter registration, as our state laws say they should, we would have expected to receive all of the following: • planning documents • emails to students and parents • website screenshots • internal announcements • reports • summaries • other routine implementation documents that would be generated in the normal course of getting anything meaningful done.

We received very few documents in any of these categories.

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Rather, the districts’ responses generally showed a lack of consistent programming relating to voter registration.

Some districts informed us they were unaware of the legal requirements relating to student voter registration prior to receiving our Requests. Some of these districts as well as others told us (with no supporting documentation or other details) that their schools generally addressed voter registration in Government or History courses (which is a legal requirement under the Education Code). And many high schools throughout Los Angeles County had not designated voter registration contacts under Elections Code section 2148(a).

There were, however, a few notable standouts.

A small percentage of the districts, and sometimes certain high schools within a district, more actively encouraged student voter registration through activities such as student clubs, mock elections, website posts, partnerships with nonpartisan organizations, the hosting of speakers (including elected officials), and the adoption of resolutions in support of student voter registration by district boards.

Based on the entirety of a district’s response (including documents produced and information provided in follow-up communications), the districts fall into three general categories: Those that provided (1) no documented voter registration activity; (2) some documented activities; and (3) more documented activities than most districts. Within some of the second and third categories, the level of activities often varied among high schools within the same district.8 The chart and discussion ahead summarize the results for the districts that responded.

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Levels of Voter Registration Activity in Responding School Districts

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No documented voter registration activity. The responses we received from a majority of the responding districts (20 out of 36 responding districts) provided evidence of no (or almost no) programming related to voter registration. Ten of the 36 responding districts did not provide a single document in response to our Requests, suggesting or acknowledging in most cases a lack of attention to voter registration. Instead of producing documents, some school districts provided the names and contact information for the official voter registration contact at their high schools. Seven of the responding districts, however, did not even provide this minimal information in response to our requests. Several others appear to have appointed contacts in response to our requests.9 Responses from districts that did not provide any documentary evidence of voter registration activity in response to our Requests included: “We currently do not have a formal process in our high schools for voter pre-registration.”

“We have surveyed our secondary schools and we have not promoted early registration. We will, however, place this into our program in the near future.”

Statements that the district encouraged schools to make voter registration forms available to students somewhere in the school.

Several simply noted that they provided information in connection with Government or History classes (which, as noted above, California law requires as part of the curriculum), but provided no documentary evidence of these activities.

PART 2: l.a. interim report

Some documented voter registration activity. The remaining districts that responded provided evidence of some voter registration activity in their schools. For the most part, such activity was minimal and often limited to a particular high school (or small number of high schools) within the district. These activities (beyond providing voter registration forms in schools or including unspecified voter information as part of Government or History class), included one or more of the following: A few adopted Board resolutions to support a specific voter registration drive.

A few posted links on their websites to voter registration sites.

Some districts included voter registration forms in packages given to graduating seniors.

Some schools within districts organized voter registration drives on campus or remotely and held mock elections.

At a few high schools, students formed clubs and prepared materials to support voter registration.

Some districts reported that students had served as poll workers.

While each of the steps outlined above helps to encourage registration, they occurred so sporadically (and, taken as a whole, at such a small percentage of high schools in the County) that they did not materially impact preregistration rates. That said, each of these activities—if adopted and implemented much more broadly—could have a significant impact.

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A few districts submitted more documented voter registration activity than most, including: Culver City Unified School District and its high school clubs have • hosted numerous voter registration drives and informational sessions for students during the past two years. The sessions have included • a forum with candidates for the Board of Supervisors member representing Culver City and a Zoom session with a Councilwoman (and former Culver City Mayor) about being an informed voter. During • October 2020, Culver City High School’s “Girls Build Team” conducted voter registration drives at off-site locations, and members also served as election poll workers. In addition, numerous registration drives took place, both on site (pre-pandemic) and virtually.

El Segundo Unified School District hosted two city council debates for seniors in an effort to incentivize them to vote, students worked on Civics Day projects with the city to encourage civic responsibility and inspire an interest in government and voting, and the District advertised the local Poll Worker program and encouraged students to participate. In connection with the 2020 elections, the District held a mock election for seniors focusing on the Presidential race and California’s propositions, and used social media, emails and school announcements to encourage student engagement.

PART 2: l.a. interim report

La Cañada Unified School District, though not reporting a lot of previous activity, produced documents demonstrating substantial efforts currently underway. For example, the District is reportedly developing a voter information website with expected completion in May 2021. In addition, the District is developing a schoolwide preregistration program it expects to complete by the end of June. The only high school in the District lists among its 2020 activity clubs includes a “Committee to Work on Voter Registration” with identified student leaders and a key staff contact; together they have prepared an outline of a program to increase registration rates. The school plans to include voter registration forms in the packet provided to all seniors with information about their upcoming graduation, and to include voter registration forms as part of school registration materials in the Fall of 2021.

Long Beach Unified School District and the Long Beach City Clerk’s Office have a successful partnership. They reach out to History teachers, student government (Associated Student Body/ASB) Directors and heads of the Social Studies Departments at all of the District’s high schools to facilitate voter education and registration. A City Clerk representative offers to meet (virtually, during the 2020-2021 school year) with each class, typically around National Voter Registration Day in September (which coincides with California’s High School Voter Education weeks).

This school year, the City Clerk representative met virtually with 65 classes across seven campuses, reaching several thousand students.

Redondo Beach Unified School District has a many-year tradition of conducting annual voter registration drives at its high school in conjunction with the League of Women Voters. In 2019, the District’s Board also adopted a Resolution in support of High School Voter Education Weeks in September. In 2020 (during virtual learning), the high school’s ASB produced a compelling video featuring its students entitled “Why We Vote,” which the school played during an all-school presentation. The school also distributed a flyer from the League of Women Voters to all students in September with information about registration and preregistration.

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We know that obtaining information through records requests has its limits. For example, The Civics Center works directly with exceptional teachers at Centennial High School and Dominguez High School in the Compton Unified School District.

Their work in guiding their students in creating a Future Voters Club, promoting voter registration drives through existing clubs, hosting guest speakers, showing movies on public issues, and promoting activism through social media might not get picked up in a response to a records request directed to a school district.

There may be other districts, or individual high schools, that have also engaged in activities that have not yet been reported to The Civics Center in response to our Requests. Still, using a records request as a uniform starting point for gathering information about so many districts in such a large county has been an effective way to begin a conversation with school districts about what they ought to be doing and why and to help them identify available resources. Our final report, which is planned for late summer, will provide further information on many of these efforts, as well as positive steps taken in the time after the preparation of this interim report.

Challenges and opportunities to create a robust infrastructure to support high school voter registration. As summarized above, we found through our Requests little evidence of schools doing “all in [their] power to ensure that students are provided the opportunity and means to apply to register to vote.” Elections Code § 2146(e).

Given the responses, the dismal 10% preregistration rate in Los Angeles County is not surprising. The responses provide us with some insight into what are (and are not) the reasons for the lack of voter registration activity.

First, we do not believe COVID-19 or educator resistance are the main causes of low preregistration numbers and scarcity of activities:

PART 2: l.a. interim report

COVID-19: Our Requests included the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 school years. In all of the districts except one, the 2019 school year in Los Angeles County commenced in August (with one starting in September). Schools moved to remote learning due to the pandemic in late March of 2020. Thus, most of the 2019-2020 school year occurred under normal circumstances. In addition, preregistration rates in California and Los Angeles County have never reached even 20%, although the law has been in effect since 2016, long before the pandemic.

Educator resistance: We did not see evidence that educators are unwilling to engage in the effort to teach students about voter registration.

We do believe the following factors play a role in the low preregistration numbers and lack of relevant high school activities.

Lack of awareness of relevant laws: everal district representatives informed us that they had not been aware of most of the laws relating to student voter registration prior to receiving our Request; the disregard was unintentional. Indeed, numerous districts appointed Voter Registration Contacts after they received our Request, and several notified us of their intent to take steps (including adding links for voter registration on their websites, distributing voter registration materials to students, and attending workshops) to encourage registration. We did not see evidence of educators being provided with or made aware of toolkits and resources for promoting student voter registration. We have found that, once informed, many educators enthusiastically undertake efforts to encourage voter registration.

Our suggestions below regarding clear communication, responsibility, and training would address this issue.

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Lack of clarity regarding what agency or person is responsible for implementing laws related to student voter registration: The California Secretary of State, the California Department of Education, the Los Angeles County Office of the Superintendent, each school district (including its own Board and Superintendent) within Los Angeles County, and each high school within each district, all have some role in connection with the statutory provisions outlined in this report.

However, based on the information we have received in response to our Requests and in follow-up conversations, it does not appear that any particular agency or administrator has ownership of a process to implement the laws. Without coordination and accountability, compliance with the laws designed to promote high school civic engagement and voter preregistration efforts has fallen through the cracks.

At both the state and district level, a particular person/position should be responsible for ensuring compliance with laws related to high school voter education and registration, with registration rates being one measure of their formal performance review.

Lack of reporting, auditing, and enforcement: The laws supporting student voter registration and preregistration do not require any reporting by school districts or high schools in the State. Further, based on our research to date, we are not aware of any auditing by any state agency or school districts regarding compliance with relevant laws. Nor are any penalties imposed on districts that do not take the steps required by law.

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School districts should be obligated to provide to the California Department of Education a report that, at a minimum, includes:

Contact information for each high school’s voter registration contact under Elections Code section 2148(a), as well as confirmation that this contact is trained in voter registration; Confirmation that student voter outreach coordinators have been appointed and trained; A list of the actions they have taken “to ensure that students are provided the opportunity and means to apply to register to vote”; The results of their efforts; and The role of voter education and registration activities in connection with their criteria for the State Seal of Civic Engagement.

Lack of training: As noted above, the Secretary of State and Department of Education have very useful resources available to educators with respect to student voter registration, as do a number of nonpartisan nonprofit organizations. However, it does not appear that relevant educators are trained on how to use them, and some may not even be aware of their existence.

Existing resources could easily be packaged in a useful way and provided to relevant high school educators. Further, training sessions could be held online to review the materials, provide guidance on implementation, and share best practices.

Lack of emphasis on and financial support for Civics/Government subjects: Based on public records and conversations with administrators, we believe that cuts to Civics/Government education have significantly undermined the role that schools have in making sure that students graduate equipped to become full and active participants in our

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democracy. The California Department of Education high school graduation requirements include only one semester of Government/Civics. And the topics relating to voting comprise only a small portion of that single semester, if they are even being taught. Further, due in part to the lack of relevant education, students fail to understand the impact, importance, and urgency of civic engagement. The recent launch of the State Seal of Civic Engagement is a step in the right direction to put a spotlight on Civics; unfortunately, however, the state did not allocate any funding for the program.

Funding should be directed to implement and enforce existing laws and policies designed to support student voter education and registration.

As our above discussion indicates, the gaps in effective implementation of California’s laws encouraging youth voting are stark. We should not allow the size of the problem to overwhelm us. This is an area where local efforts at the school and school district level can make an enormous impact year after year. Such efforts will benefit from further study and data analysis, including examining data available about voting and voter registration among our youngest voters. The next section turns to this topic.

4. Voter registration rates for cities and school districts within LA County Goals: We set out to determine how school districts in Los Angeles County are actually doing in getting young people involved in the electoral process by obtaining and analyzing registration rates, turnout rates, and population data.

We also assessed the correlation between poverty rates and registration rates.

PART 2: l.a. interim report

Key findings and results: REGISTRATION RATE FOR 18-YEAR-OLDS

We found that 58% of Los Angeles County 18-year-olds were registered in time to vote in the 2020 general election. This is lower than the statewide average of 66.4% for 18- to 24-year-olds.

TURNOUT AMONG 18-YEAR-OLD REGISTERED VOTERS

Among registered 18-year-olds in Los Angeles County, 75% voted in the 2020 general election. This is higher than the statewide average of 71% for 18- to 24-year-olds.10 VARIATIONS IN REGISTRATION RATES FOR 18-YEAR-OLDS AMONG SCHOOL DISTRICTS

Using the sources described above, we estimated the percentage of 18-year-olds who were registered and who voted in the 2020 general election for each school district. We created three tiers to show variations in registration rates: Tier 1 for registration rates 70% and above, Tier 2 for registration rates between 55-69%, and Tier 3 for registration rates below 55%. The map below illustrates our results.

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Youth Voter Registration by School District

@THECIVICSCENTER

Notably, school districts that reported more robust voter registration activities generally appeared in higher tiers than other districts.

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COMPARISON OF REGISTRATION RATES AND TURNOUT RATES FOR 18-YEAR-OLDS

We also compared registration rates with turnout rates for 18-year-olds among the school districts. The chart below shows the results of this comparison, with each point on the chart representing a school district in Los Angeles County.

There is a positive correlation between districts with higher registration rates and districts with higher turnout rates.

Los Angeles County 18-Year-Old Turnout (Among Registered Voters) In Relation To Registration

PERCENTAGE OF REGISTERED 18-YEAR-OLDS WHO VOTED @THECIVICSCENTER PERCENTAGE OF 18-YEAR-OLDS REGISTERED TO VOTE

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We also assessed the relationship between poverty rates among children in different districts and the corresponding levels of voter registration, turnout as a percentage of the population, and turnout as a percentage of registered voters for 18-year-olds. The charts below show the results of these comparisons. Again, each point on the chart represents a school district within Los Angeles County.

Los Angeles County 18-Year-Old Registration Rates in Relation to Child Poverty

PERCENTAGE OF REGISTERED 18-YEAR-OLDS WHO VOTED @THECIVICSCENTER PERCENTAGE OF SCHOOL-AGE CHILDREN IN POVERTY

Los Angeles County 18-Year-Old Turnout (Among Registered Voters) In Relation Child Poverty

PERCENTAGE OF REGISTERED 18-YEAR-OLDS WHO VOTED @THECIVICSCENTER PERCENTAGE OF SCHOOL-AGE CHILDREN IN POVERTY

Los Angeles County 18-Year-Old Turnout (Among Population) In Relation To Registration

PERCENTAGE OF REGISTERED 18-YEAR-OLDS WHO VOTED @THECIVICSCENTER PERCENTAGE OF SCHOOL-AGE CHILDREN IN POVERTY

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These charts show that the poverty-associated decline in turnout among registered 18-year-olds was far less dramatic than either (1) the povertyassociated decline in registration rates or (2) the poverty-associated decline in turnout among all 18-year-olds (whether registered or unregistered).

The sum of this research suggests a strong possibility that increasing high school voter registration can increase youth turnout across the range of different child poverty levels. We need both further study and immediate action to understand more and to take advantage of the opportunity to increase civic engagement for all our youth.

Data sources: We focused on 18-year-olds, the youngest potential voters and those most likely to have benefited from high school voter registration efforts in 2019 and 2020. Using the Los Angeles County official voter file, we identified youth who were 18 by November 3, 2020, the last day of voting in the 2020 general election. For each of them, we identified the school district associated with their residence.11 We also identified whether they were registered to vote on or before November 3, 2020 and whether they in fact voted in the November 3, 2020 general election.12 We obtained population data by school district from the U.S. Census American Community Survey based on 5-year estimates. This survey provides estimates of the number of people in the age range from 15 to 19 in each school district, and we divided that number by 5 to estimate the number of 18-year-olds.13 For child poverty data, we relied on the Census Bureau’s 2019 Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates (SAIPE).

INTRODUCTION

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PART 3:

A Call to Action The promise of pre-18 registration in our high schools is tremendous.

Effectively implemented, pre-18 registration could increase youth voter registration rates to equal, or even exceed, the registration rates of older Americans and thus increase youth voter turnout rates. It could give young voters a representative voice in our democracy and elevate issues important to young Americans, such as climate change, equality, and gun safety. But significant pre-18 registration will not be realized without action from every level of government, schools, educators, and the community at large.

There is every reason to believe that the low level of implementation of effective programs that we see in Los Angeles County school districts is a much broader problem. We have worked with students throughout the country, and their experiences are consistent with the lack of effective high school voter registration programs that we have documented above.

Congress has power to enforce the 26th Amendment. States have power to regulate elections and voter registration. School districts have power to create policies and programs. Teachers have power to educate and inspire. The Civics Center calls on all of these participants in our civic community to act.

PART 3: A CALL TO ACTION

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT ACTION Our takeaway from working with schools and students across the country is that national legislation to enforce the 26th Amendment by requiring states to allow pre-18 registration to begin at age 16 holds enormous potential for increasing youth voting. Both H.R. 1, which passed the House earlier this month, and S.1, now in committee in the Senate, as well as separate legislation (the Next Generation Votes Act, introduced by Rep. Joe Neguse of Colorado) would create such a system.

Uniform preregistration at 16 would give schools two years to provide students a meaningful opportunity to register to vote and to teach them how to participate in our democracy. It would also give students two years to develop leadership skills by encouraging them to engage in activities such as organizing school-based registration drives, and it would increase the proportion of students registered to vote before they head off to college and into the workplace. If not asked to register to vote in high school, many students may not be asked again for years to come, if ever. Finally, universal preregistration at 16 would simplify efforts of nongovernmental organizations to support school districts and their schools’ programming for high school students.

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STATE AND COUNTY GOVERNMENT ACTION Unless and until federal legislation mandating preregistration at 16 becomes a reality, states that do not already offer preregistration or meaningful pre-18 registration should enact it and effectively implement it. Effective implementation means making 16- and 17-year-olds aware of the opportunity to register to vote at 16, educating them how to do it, and collecting the data necessary to track registration rates and hold responsible officials accountable.

To effectively implement pre-18 registration laws, states like California that already offer preregistration at 16 should enact measures to: Provide substantive voter education to high school students • State legislation or curriculum standards should require engaging programming that informs students how to register and how to participate in our democracy, and the state should adequately fund such programming • The secretary of state or county registrars should provide voter registration applications to all public high schools (or online voter registration instructions), and high schools should be required to offer applications to students at least twice each year to ensure all eligible students receive an opportunity to register before graduation • The secretary of state should create special awards or recognition programs for schools that register a certain percentage of eligible students and for students who engage in peer-to-peer voter education or registration efforts

PART 3: A CALL TO ACTION

Create automatic and online voter registration systems that are accessible to high school students • Ensure that automatic voter registration systems based on Department of Motor Vehicles transactions capture 16- and 17-year-olds who obtain drivers’ licenses (even those who were 15 ½ when obtaining learners’ permits) • Create systems to support online voter registration for students who lack a DMV-issued ID (which few students were able to obtain during the pandemic) by allowing them to upload a signature (as in Pennsylvania and the District of Columbia) Improve transparency and data collection • Require high schools to designate a person responsible for offering voter registration applications to students twice each year and to identify that person on the school’s or school district’s website • Require the secretary of state and/or county registrars to maintain data and provide regular reports on the numbers of 16- and 17-year-olds who preregister or register to vote, broken down by county, city, and school district, and further broken down by birth year • Require the secretary of state and/or county registrars to maintain data and provide regular reports on 18- and 19-year-olds who register to vote, broken down by county, city, and school district, and also broken down by birth year Create accountability •

Require public schools to report each year to the state agencies responsible for education and elections on the measures taken to provide students a meaningful opportunity to register to vote

•

Require the state and local executive officers responsible for education and elections to identify a staff member responsible for implementing laws and regulations affecting high school voter registration, and tie the evaluation of that person’s job performance to pre-18 registration rates

•

Require state and local election officials to designate staff responsible for working with schools and school districts to provide needed materials, answer student and faculty questions, and provide logistical support as needed.

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SCHOOL DISTRICT, SCHOOL, AND EDUCATOR ACTION Adopt and implement district-wide policies supporting pre-18 registration (see the Appendix for examples) An appropriate target that can be a focus of every school in every district and every state is to entirely eliminate the youth voter registration gap (i.e., the difference in registration rates between 18-24 year olds and older voters) by the November 2024 general election. An immediate interim goal is to get at least halfway to the target by November 2022.

Provide educational programming that informs students about eligibility requirements and how to register Devote adequate classroom or advisory time for students to register to vote twice each year Designate a faculty member responsible for providing voter registration forms to students and identify that person on the school’s and/or school district’s website and in announcements about voter registration efforts. Ideally the faculty member designated would also be the advisor to the school’s Future Voters Club.

Designate student outreach coordinators, ideally including at least one senior and one junior to ensure continuity from year to year. Student outreach coordinators also should be identified on the school’s website and in announcements about voter registration efforts.

Poll students at least once each year to determine how many eligible students are registered to vote, the primary barriers preventing students from registering, and whether adjustments to voter registration efforts would improve the school’s voter registration rate.

PART 3: A CALL TO ACTION

Recognize student organizers, create competitions with rival schools or other district-wide efforts, and encourage students to participate in recognition or awards programs (such as California’s State Seal of Civic Engagement and Pennsylvania’s Governor’s Civic Engagement Award) Join our educators’ network. Teachers can show their individual support for pre-18 registration by signing The Civics Center’s Educators’ Pledge of Support.

The Pledge commits educators to supporting and encouraging their schools to support nonpartisan high school voter registration drives twice each year.

Partner with state and county officials and/or nongovernmental organizations for training, resources, and guidance with nonpartisan voter registration efforts

COMMUNITY ACTION Parents, clubs, religious groups, and nongovernmental organizations all have roles to play to support the legal, educational, and cultural framework for high school voter registration. Each of these groups can help launch and maintain voter registration initiatives in high schools in their communities by providing educational programming and advice, material support (pens, clipboards, posters, stickers, snacks!), organizational assistance, and cheerleading for inspiring teachers and student leaders.

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CONCLUSION At the outset of this report we explained why high school voter registration is the most unknown and untapped resource to increase informed participation in our democracy, especially among young people. Our 18- to 24-year-olds are not to blame for turning out to vote in November 2020 at the lowest rate of any age group. Our institutions are to blame for failing to equip young adults with the knowledge they need to participate in our democracy.

Indeed, John Adams believed the public had a duty to “instruct[ ] citizens in every kind of knowledge that can be of use to them in the practice of their . . . political and civil duties.” That knowledge must include understanding how to fulfill one’s civic duties, including voting. And the first step to voting is registering to vote.

Before passage of the 26th Amendment, high school voter registration did not exist. But in its wake, and in light of laws in virtually every state allowing pre-18 registration, high schools across the country should offer every eligible student a meaningful opportunity to register to vote before graduation. Only when high school voter registration becomes as routine as homecoming and prom will the promise of the 26th Amendment be fulfilled.

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ENDNOTES 1

These states are California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington, and Utah.

2

These states are Arizona, Kansas, Montana, New Mexico, South Carolina, South Dakota, Vermont, and Wyoming.

3

These states are Iowa, Nevada, New Jersey, and West Virginia.

4

These states are Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, Ohio, Tennessee, and Virginia.

5

North Dakota does not require voter registration.

See Texas enrollment data for 2019-2020 school year, Figure 5, reflecting ages as of October 2019. In states with less restrictive laws (almost every other state), the opportunities for high voter registration are even greater

6

7 We went back to the 2019-2020 school year because most seniors who graduated in 2020 would be eligible to vote in the Presidential election in November 2020 and because most of that school year took place before the pandemic caused schools to move to remote learning. Our Request to Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) focused on specific efforts that it had undertaken in 2020. See footnote 8, below.

School districts in Los Angeles County contain anywhere from one high school to, in the case of the Los Angeles Unified School District—the second largest school district in the country—more than 250 high schools. (After LAUSD, the next largest district in the County has 15 high schools.) In August 2020, LAUSD officials sent a comprehensive memorandum to high schools encouraging them to participate in voter registration efforts. The LAUSD Board has also passed various resolutions supporting high school voter registration.

8

Approximately 100 high schools countywide have appointed voter registration contacts in response to public records requests The Civics Center has sent beginning in 2018.

9

Figures 1 and 6 in the chart linked here suggest 71% of registered 18- to 24-year-olds turned out statewide.

10

11 The voter file identifies the residents within the geographic boundaries of the school district. It does not identify which schools people actually attend(ed).

Limitations on data availability also created challenges. At present, while the California Secretary of State provides periodic reports concerning preregistration numbers for every county, along with regular reports about registration numbers, preregistration reports are not available with the information broken down by school district. County-level data are useful for some purposes. But for purposes of determining how to improve youth engagement within a county as large and diverse as Los Angeles County, county-level information is not adequate. Each of the dozens of school districts within Los Angeles County has its own board, and school districts are not run by the county. In addition, county-level information does not help us identify high school or district programs that are working and those that need more attention.

12

These Different data sources regarding youth population may yield different estimates. Because the population information we used is derived from an estimate, the resulting voter registration and turnout rates are also estimates. We used the same methodology and the same data sources for all districts to obtain a consistent basis for comparisons.

13

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APPENDIX RELEVANT PROVISIONS OF THE CALIFORNIA ELECTIONS CODE RELEVANT PROVISIONS OF THE CALIFORNIA EDUCATION CODE LINKS TO CALIFORNIA SECRETARY OF STATE RESOURCES LINKS TO CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION RESOURCES LINKS TO THE CIVICS CENTER RESOURCES FOR SCHOOLS AND EDUCATORS LINKS TO REPRESENTATIVE SCHOOL DISTRICT MATERIALS

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RELEVANT PROVISIONS OF THE CALIFORNIA ELECTIONS CODE Elections Code § 2000 (a) Every person who qualifies under Section 2 of Article II of the California Constitution and who complies with this code governing the registration of electors may vote at any election held within the territory within which he or she resides and the election is held. (b) Any person who will be at least 18 years of age at the time of the next election is eligible to register and vote at that election. (c) Pursuant to Section 2102, any person who is at least 16 years of age and otherwise meets all eligibility requirements to vote is eligible to preregister to vote, but is not eligible to vote until he or she is 18 years of age.

Elections Code § 2102(d) A person who is at least 16 years of age and otherwise meets all eligibility requirements to vote may submit his or her affidavit of registration as prescribed by this section. A properly executed affidavit of registration made pursuant to this subdivision shall be deemed effective as of the date the affiant will be 18 years of age, if the information in the affidavit of registration is still current at that time. If the information provided by the affiant in the affidavit of registration is not current at the time that the affidavit of registration would otherwise become effective, for his or her registration to become effective, the affiant shall provide the current information to the proper county elections official as prescribed by this chapter.

Elections Code § 2146 (a) The Secretary of State shall annually provide every high school, community college, and California State University and University of California campus with voter registration forms. The Secretary of State shall provide additional forms to a school, free of charge, if so requested by a school.

Elections Code § 2146 (e) It is the intent of the Legislature that every eligible high school and college student receive a meaningful opportunity to apply to register to vote. It is also the intent of the Legislature that every school do all in its power to ensure that students are provided the opportunity and means to apply to register to vote. This may include providing voter registration forms at the start of the school year, including voter registration forms with orientation materials; placing voter registration forms at central locations, including voter registration forms with graduation materials; or providing hyperlinks to, and the Internet Web site address of, the Secretary of State’s electronic voter registration system in notices sent by electronic mail to students and placed on the Internet Web site of the high school, college, or university.

Elections Code § 2148 (a) Every high school, community college, and California State University campus shall designate a contact person and provide his or her address, telephone number, and e-mail address, when possible, to the Secretary of State for the Secretary of State to contact in order to facilitate the distribution of voter registration cards, as provided under this article.

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RELEVANT PROVISIONS OF THE CALIFORNIA EDUCATION CODE Education Code § 49040 (a) The last two full weeks in April and the last two full weeks in September shall be known as “high school voter education weeks,” during which time persons authorized by the county elections official shall be allowed to register students and school personnel on any high school campus in areas designated by the administrator of the high school, or his or her designee, which are reasonably accessible to all students.

Education Code § 49041 (a) The administrator of a high school, or his or her designee, may appoint one or more pupils who are enrolled at that high school to be voter outreach coordinators. (b) A voter outreach coordinator may coordinate voter registration activities on his or her high school campus that encourage persons who are eligible to register to vote pursuant to Section 2101 of the Elections Code, or other persons who may submit an affidavit of registration pursuant to Section 2102 of the Elections Code, to apply to register to vote by submitting an affidavit of registration on paper or electronically on the Internet Web site of the Secretary of State. (c) A voter outreach coordinator may, with the approval of the administrator of the high school, or his or her designee, coordinate election-related activities on his or her high school campus, including voter registration drives, mock elections, debates, and other election-related pupil outreach activities.

Education Code § 33540 (a) The state board and the department shall request that the commission review and revise, as necessary, the course requirements in the history-social science framework developed by the History-Social Science Curriculum Framework and Criteria Committee of the state board to ensure that minimum standards for courses in American government and civics include sufficient attention to teaching pupils how to interact, in a practical manner, with state and local governmental agencies and representatives to solve problems and to petition for changes in laws and procedures, and that the course requirements in the history-social science framework are also included in all history and social science courses and all grade levels, as appropriate. (b) Whenever the history-social science framework is revised as required by law, the commission shall do, as appropriate and based on the subject matter of the course, all of the following: (1) Receive input from civics learning experts, including civics education program providers, associations of civics educators, and organizations dedicated to research on civics learning, for purposes of integrating civics learning content, concepts, and skills, at all appropriate grade levels, with the standards established by the state board in core curriculum areas, as specified in Section 60605, as that section read on June 30, 2011, and Section 60605.8.

(2) Consider how civics and history instruction, at all appropriate grade levels, includes, in addition to the acquisition of content knowledge, the application of that content to develop the competence and skills needed for civic engagement.

(3) Ensure that voter education information is included in the American government and civics curriculum at the high school level, including, but not limited to, information on the importance of registering to

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vote in local, state, and federal elections, how to register to vote, both online and by mail, what the requirements are to register to vote, how to request an absentee ballot, how to fill out and return an absentee ballot, what to expect on election day, how to find a polling place, and where and how to access and understand the voter information pamphlet and other materials to become an informed voter.

Education Code § 51470 It is the intent of the Legislature to establish a State Seal of Civic Engagement to encourage, and create pathways for, pupils in elementary and secondary schools to become civically engaged in democratic governmental institutions at the local, state, and national levels.

Education Code § 51471 (a) On or before January 1, 2020, the Superintendent shall recommend to the state board criteria for awarding a State Seal of Civic Engagement to pupils who have demonstrated excellence in civics education and participation and have demonstrated an understanding of the United States Constitution, the California Constitution, and the democratic system of government. In developing criteria for the State Seal of Civic Engagement, the Superintendent shall incorporate the Six Proven Practices for Effective Civic Learning, developed by the Education Commission of the States, and any and all other best practices for civic learning and engagement. In developing criteria for the State Seal of Civic Engagement, the Superintendent shall also consult with a diverse group of credentialed, current, classroom teachers who teach the subject of history-social science, including government, in secondary schools. The Superintendent shall also consider including criteria based on each of the following: (1) Successful completion of history, government, and civics courses, including courses that incorporate character education.

(2) Voluntary participation in community service or extracurricular activities.

(3) Any other related requirements as it deems appropriate. (b) In developing criteria pursuant to subdivision (a), the Superintendent shall ensure, to the greatest extent feasible, that the criteria: (1) Provide all pupils with an opportunity to earn the State Seal of Civic Engagement.

(2) Recognize pupil excellence or outstanding achievement.

(3) Are not based primarily on pupil achievement that is already recognized through grades or other standard measures of pupil achievement.

(4) To the extent possible, result in a seal that confers some benefit to pupils beyond secondary school. (c) On or before January 31, 2021, the state board shall adopt, reject, or modify the criteria recommended by the Superintendent pursuant to subdivision (a). (d) School district participation in this program is voluntary.

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Education Code § 51472 The Superintendent shall do both of the following: (a) Prepare and deliver to participating school districts an appropriate insignia to be affixed to the diploma or transcript of the pupil indicating that the pupil has been awarded a State Seal of Civic Engagement by the Superintendent. (b) Provide other information he or she deems necessary for school districts to successfully participate in the program.

Education Code § 51473 A school district that participates in the program under this article shall do both of the following: (a) Maintain appropriate records in order to identify pupils who have earned a State Seal of Civic Engagement. (b) Affix the appropriate insignia to the diploma or transcript of each pupil who earns a State Seal of Civic Engagement.

Education Code § 51474 No fee shall be charged to a pupil to receive a State Seal of Civic Engagement.

LINKS TO CALIFORNIA SECRETARY OF STATE RESOURCES High School and Youth Initiatives: Includes information for High School Voter Education Weeks and California Student Mock Elections Guidance for School Administrators and Teachers regarding youth voter registration California High School Voter Education Weeks: Best Practices Shared by County Elections Offices

Letter to County and District Superintendents, Charter School Administrators, and High School Principals providing resources for September 2020 High School Voter Education Weeks

LINKS TO CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION RESOURCES History/Social Science Framework for California Public Schools, California State Board of Education (2016), Chapter 17, Principles of American Democracy State Seal of Civic Engagement website - Provides an overview of the program and relevant resources, criteria and implementation guidance, and procedures and forms State Seal of Civic Engagement Implementation Guidance Resources to Support Civic Engagement - Provides general civics education resources (these resources are not specific to voting or voter registration)

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LINKS TO THE CIVICS CENTER RESOURCES FOR SCHOOLS AND EDUCATORS Educators’ Pledge Of Support For High School Voter Registration (2021) Checklist For Educators And State And Local Election Officials (2021) Voter Registration Forms (2020) Voter Registration State Age Requirements (2021) Voter Registration QR Code Model Announcements (2020) Sample Policy For School Districts (2021)

LINKS TO REPRESENTATIVE SCHOOL DISTRICT MATERIALS El Monte Union High School District Resolution Glendora Unified School District Resolution Redondo Beach Unified School District Resolution Temple City Unified School District Website

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 68

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This report would not have been possible without the extraordinary contributions of the staff, volunteers, and supporters of The Civics Center. In particular the authors thank Dylan G. Morrissey for his tireless commitment to The Civics Center’s mission, his production management and art direction and review of a draft of this report, and his leadership of the Youth Democracy LeadersLA program; Laya Reddy for her herculean assistance with the public records requests sent to Los Angeles County school districts, painstaking follow up with districts and schools, and her research and analysis; Avery Shaw for her brilliant design and graphics; Lexa Edsall for turning our data into beautiful maps and scatterplots; Laura Mecoy for helping The Civics Center spread its message by telling the whole world about this report; Ellen Evans for her thoughtful comments and insightful suggestions on a draft of this report; Andrew Binder, Wesley Garfield, and Chris Krenn for making our survey of Georgia college students possible; Morgan Awner, Alexander De Leon, Celina German, Sydney Lane, Maia Lefferman, and Annika Reff, for their boundless energy and enthusiasm in organizing, mentoring, and reaching out to school communities in Los Angeles; the USC Price Center for Inclusive Democracy for generously permitting us to reprint their informative graphics in this report; Cynthia Freeman of Community Partners for her ongoing support of The Civics Center; and to everyone at Kendall Brill & Kelly LLP for unwavering flexibility and understanding.

We also are extremely grateful for our fabulous adult volunteers who give selflessly of their time to advance our mission, our donors who make our work possible, and our Advisory Board that guides us to accomplish ever higher goals. Finally, we thank and appreciate the inspiring students in our Youth Democracy Leaders-LA and Future Voters Action Week programs who represent the best of our next generation of leaders. © 2021, The Civics Center, a project of Community Partners