Boulder County, Colo. – In partnership with Boulder Valley and St. Vrain Valley School Districts, Boulder County Elections is excited to celebrate next week, April 4-8, 2022, as our 3rd annual “Student Voter Registration Awareness Week.” The effort aims to promote voter registration and pre-registration for high school students. In Colorado, students as young as 16 may pre-register to vote.

During Student Voter Registration Awareness Week and the weeks that follow, schools are asked to encourage voter registration and provide voting information by:

• Promoting voter registration by making voter registration accessible and convenient and/or by holding voter registration events
• Displaying Elections Division supplied educational flyers with registration information
• Leveraging formal and trusted communication channels for voter registration information – including school emails, loudspeaker announcements, and classroom presentations
• Inviting Boulder County Elections to present during class or at an assembly or assist with voter registration activities

“I’m pleased to once again partner with our local school districts to celebrate Student Voter Registration Awareness Week,” stated Boulder County Clerk & Recorder Molly Fitzpatrick. “Youth turnout in Colorado is one of the highest in country, and that is because of our ability to pre-register students and engage them in the voting process early. This partnership is one of the ways we accomplish that goal and we thank BVSD and SVVSD for their support.”

“It is critical that we engage our high school students and let them know how important their voice is in the electoral process,” stated Boulder Valley School District Board of Education President Kathy Gebhardt. “The first step to doing that is asking and encouraging them to register to vote. With Boulder County’s help, our teachers and staff have easy access to the training and resources they need to assist our students with getting registered and answering questions about the process.”

“Civic engagement and access to the ballot box are critical lessons that we as a school district have a responsibility to teach,” Boulder Valley School District Superintendent Dr. Rob Anderson. “We value our partnership Boulder County Elections and are excited to make sure our students are ready to vote when that first ballot arrives in the mail.”

As background, the week was first designated and celebrated in early February 2020 to help get many students registered to vote leading up to the March Presidential Primary. Boulder County Elections credits our successful partnership with our schools in boosting awareness that in 2020 eligible 17-year-old youth who would turn 18 by the November election were eligible to participate that year’s primary. In 2020, Boulder County 17-year-old voter turnout was 61% in the Presidential Primary compared to 43% for the same age group statewide. Additionally, our high school voter registration program and engagement earned Boulder County Elections a U.S. Election Assistance Commission Clearinghouse Award for outstanding innovation in elections.

In 2021, the week celebration was moved to early April to better equip graduating seniors with the information they needed to know about their voter registration options if leaving home for college or elsewhere. With the pandemic, the 2021 efforts to support schools with voter registration were almost entirely focused on online opportunities and education around registering to vote. However, this year, with easing of COVID restrictions and declining case numbers, Boulder County Elections is pleased to support schools once again with in-person activities if they choose.

To view the resolutions supporting Student Voter Registration Awareness Week adopted by BVSD and SVVSD and for more information on Boulder County’s voter registration support for schools, see: https://boco.org/HSRegInfo.

*Note: Due to the passage of Amendment 76 in the 2020 General, the law changed and 17-year-olds are no longer allowed to participate in primaries.