Boulder County Elections Launches 2^nd Annual High School Student Voter Registration Awareness Week

Boulder County, Colo. – In partnership with St. Vrain Valley and Boulder Valley School Districts, Boulder County Elections is excited to celebrate this week, April 5-9, as our 2^nd annual “Student Voter Registration Awareness Week.” The effort aims to promote voter registration and pre-registration for high school students in local school districts. In Colorado, students as young as 16 may pre-register to vote.

This year’s 2^nd annual week designation is the follow-up to last year’s award-winning collaboration when our elections office was able to work with schools to help get many students registered to vote leading up to the March Presidential Primary. We credit our successful partnership with our schools in boosting awareness that eligible 17-year-old youth who would turn 18 by the November election were in fact eligible to participate in last 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.

“I am so unbelievably proud of our collaboration with our local school districts last year to get our students registered and engaged in the electoral process,” stated Molly Fitzpatrick, Boulder County Clerk and Recorder. “While there isn’t an election until November this year, we felt strongly that we wanted to keep the momentum going with our schools. Our goal is to provide our local students with access and knowledge to register to vote so that as they leave school as seniors, they are either registered or prepared to registered depending on their post-graduation plans.”

Given the pandemic, this year’s High School Voter Registration Awareness Week is almost entirely focused on online opportunities and education around registering to vote. Thus, during this week and for the duration of the school year, schools are asked to promote voter registration by:

• Designating a “Voter Registration Liaison” – who will be trained in voter registration basics and to act as an information source for all voter registration and election questions (if one does not currently exist)
• Promoting voter registration by making loudspeaker or video classroom announcements about voter registration opportunities
• Displaying or sending home educational flyers provided by Boulder County Elections with registration information
• And in general, making voter registration accessible and/or if convenient by holding voter registration events (which can be online)

“Our office is working to make High School Voter Registration Awareness week a permanent fixture in our schools and community year after year and to expand our program beyond our county,” explained Fitzpatrick. “Colorado already boasts one of the highest youth turnout rates in the nation, and it is because of our ability to pre-register so many of our young people so that they are prepared and ready to vote when their first ballot arrives. It is so important to engage our next generation of voters, and that begins by asking them to register.”

To view the resolutions adopted by the BVSD and SVVSD and for more information on Boulder County’s “I’m a Voter Program” visit our high school resources page: https://boco.org/HSRegInfo.

To see data on 2020 Youth Turnout in the West and Southwest, see the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement report.

Voters who need to register to vote or check their registration, mailing address, or other information should visit www.GoVoteColorado.gov. For more information, visit www.BoulderCountyVotes.org.