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Photograph by Vicki Thompson

Registration Day: Alisha Yadaz, vice president of the Leland High Young Democrats Club, helps students (from right) Garrett Avilla , Anthony Sunseri and Joe Peera register to vote for their first time during lunch last week.

School groups push youth to get to the polls

By Monica Heger

Neil Diamond's "America" blares across the quad at Leland High School. A table is packed with students filling out voter registration cards. Vivek Musinipally and Alisha Yadaz are two of the students who organized the event to encourage as many seniors as possible to register to vote. Both believe in the importance of voting, although neither of them is yet old enough to do so.

"Youth have a voice, and we can exercise that voice," Alisha says.

Vivek, 16, the president of the Young Democrats Club at Leland, says the goal of the club is to get more young people involved in the democratic process.

According to the New Millennium Young Voters Project, only 17 percent of 18- to 24-year olds vote, lower than any other age group.

Leland senior Jeffrey Ho attributes that statistic to apathy.

"People don't think their vote makes a difference," Jeffrey says.

He was among the students who turned out to register. Senior Annie Rummelhoff, 17, also registered to vote. She'll be 18 by the Nov. 11 election.

"If you have a say and you have a choice, then you should exercise that," Annie says.

Megan Begantz, who teaches American government at Leland, tries to instill the importance of voting in her students all year long.

During class, she has students stand and tells them they represent American citizens eligible to vote. She then has half of them sit down. The remaining students are the ones who actually registered to vote. Then, she has half of those students sit down. Those left standing are the ones who cast their ballots.

"We have 75 percent of the power of the vote being transferred to 25 percent of the population," Begantz says. " And the people who turn out to vote are typically white, wealthy, educated homeowners. And that is not representative of the majority of the population."

Begantz said her classes will participate in a mock election and go through the voter's manual. She also requires her students to find a campaign in which to put in a six-hour shift.

Begantz goes one step further to encourage her students to vote. For every student's 18th birthday, she gives a voter registration card.

"If we can get a young person to go from passive to active, chances are they will grow up to be a more active citizen," Begantz said.

Teacher Rick Conrad at Pioneer High School also tries to instill the importance of voting.

In order to help students understand the importance of voting, Conrad uses situations at school that the students can relate to. He said many students often complain about the school's rules. He asks them if they would vote to change those rules if they could. He said they always answer yes.

Conrad thinks so few young people vote because they do not feel connected to the government.

"It's difficult, because they're still living with mom and dad, and they don't have a lot invested," Conrad said.

Conrad said he tries to get students involved by discussing "hot button" issues like abortion.

"If I've instilled nothing else in my students," Conrad said, "I want them to recognize that voting is a civic duty. We take democracy for granted, but if people stop voting, what kind of people are we going to have in office?"