Boulder County, Colo. – In partnership with Boulder Valley and St. Vrain Valley School Districts, Boulder County Elections is excited to celebrate this week, April 3-7, 2023 as our 4^th 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 following, 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 educational flyers with registration information (supplied by Boulder County Elections)
• Leveraging formal and trusted communication channels for voter registration information – including school emails, loudspeaker announcements, and classroom presentations
• Inviting Boulder County Elections to host a registration table during school hours or to present during a class or at an assembly

“We are beyond thankful for BVSD and SVVSD’s continued partnership in promoting voter registration in our schools,” stated Boulder County Clerk & Recorder Molly Fitzpatrick. “Getting our youth ready for adulthood means teaching them the importance of participating in society and being civically engaged. And registering to vote is step one!”

“Celebrating Student Voter Registration Awareness week provides our teachers and staff a great way to bring up the importance of registering to vote and understanding how the voting process works,” said BVSD Board of Education President Kathy Gebhardt. “In today’s world, civic engagement is more important than ever, and the partnership with Boulder County Elections helps equip us with the resources we need to assist our youth.”

The week was first designated and celebrated in early February 2020, in preparation for the March Presidential Primary. A major goal of the week was to raise awareness that eligible 17-year-olds (those who would turn 18 by the November election) could vote in that year’s primary (note: this right was later revoked by ballot measure in Nov 2020). The partnership with schools helped lead to a 61% turnout in the March Presidential Primary among 17-year-olds in Boulder County (in contrast to a statewide turnout for the same age group of 43%). 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 and voting options if leaving home for college or elsewhere.

“It should be a statewide goal to provide easy and accessible voter registration in every high school in Colorado,” stated Molly Fitzpatrick, Boulder County Clerk and Recorder. “County Clerks have a lot on their plates, but I’m working with my fellow clerks to package what we do here in Boulder County for easy replication in other school districts. We want to thank BVSD and SVVSD once again for their partnership and for leading the way in helping our students become civically engaged adults.”

For more information on Student Voter Registration Awareness Week and to find registration documents and other supporting materials for schools, see https://boco.org/HSRegInfo.