From left to right: Margaret Montag, Tessa O’Donnell, Zoey Yan, Haadiyah Mohammed, Sophia Castro Curry, Victoria Burgess, Iris Yu, Beatrice Koritz, Elaine Zhang

The Albany Youth Council branch of the LWVBAE launched their second annual voter registration drive in November. It involved hundreds of students at Albany High School, with the goal of educating them about the importance of voting, and to get as many 16–17-year-olds pre-registered as possible. “We hope to help students feel more confident about politics and empowered to provide input on the issues that matter most to them,” said Youth Council co-president and Voter Service Director Alex Li.

The campaign involved Albany High LWVBAE interns and youth council members who visited 18 11th and 12th grade social studies classes to give presentations on pre-registering and hand out voter registration forms. Even those who are not yet eligible to pre-register were included, with many of the Youth Council members under the age of 16. “It’s super cool to learn about voting and political engagement, and to help make a change even though I’m too young to pre-register,” 15-year-old Iris Yu said. All in all, the drive was a huge success, with the Youth Council pre-registering over 80 students – a massive increase from the previous year.

Alex Li and Victoria Burgess

However, the Youth Council is far from done. For the next two months, Youth Council members and interns will be working on presentations with important information about the March 5th Presidential Primary Election, such as how to cast a ballot and who the candidates are. This presentation will be given to all 12th grade classes, aimed to guide and encourage any 18-year-old students who are able to vote in the election.

Young voters under the age of 30 have played an important role in recent elections, with voter turnout being the highest it has been in decades. The LWVBAE Albany Youth Council continues to help impact local youth civic engagement and encourage the next voting generation to go to the polls. Be sure to stay tuned for more progress from the LWVBAE Albany Youth Council!

–Elaine Zhang