Message to New High School Seniors:

Register to Vote!

Here’s a draft message I wrote as a possible letter to high school seniors, who represent a significant potential voting bloc. I welcome constructive suggestions as to form, content, and dissemination. Who would it be best to come from? A parent, administrator, organization, Senator, Congressperson, Cabinet Secretary, President, former First Ladies (Obama and Bush), someone else? I submitted a variation of this to the Washington Post as an op-ed. I hope something comes of it.

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Welcome Senior!

As you enter your senior year, you probably have many important decisions facing you, about directions to choose and plans for your future. These decisions will shape your life and impact the lives of others. In addition, you either are or will soon be eligible to vote in local, state, and federal elections. Voting is both an absolute right and an enormous responsibility for which you should be equally proud and protective. It’s also something that requires a little bit of preparation and a modicum of action.

Your right to vote is guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States of America. Fulfilling your responsibility to vote guarantees that the Constitution will continue to serve our democracy for the next generations of Americans. New voters are particularly important in our democracy. Not only do they have the most at stake over the next several decades, but they also have the greatest opportunity to begin a lifelong legacy of self-determination. Voting, for some, is a stepping stone into their own political futures.

In a democracy, voting is one of its cornerstones. It’s a means by which people elect representatives to advance and protect their interests. In our democracy, there are two major political parties, Democrats and Republicans, and a number of smaller parties, affiliates, and independents. In Primary elections, a voter must vote as either a Democrat or a Republican, and select candidates to run in a general election. In General elections, a voter is free to vote for any candidate, or even write in someone who is not on the ballot.

While the idea of voting in elections may seem premature, or perhaps a little intimidating (especially when the political rhetoric is at a fever pitch), your input is vital. Elections have consequences, some of which can be felt for many years, and can affect the lives of all Americans and indeed others around the globe. Polling places are run by regular people, equally representing the two major political parties, and your vote itself is completely private. Everyone who has ever voted did so only once for the first time, so the workers at the polls have all been there.

Being able to vote begins with voter registration, which varies from state to state. The Civics Center (https://www.thecivicscenter.org), an excellent organization that strongly advocates registration of high school students, offers a wealth of information and support for students to either run voter registration drives, or to simply register themselves. Featured on its site, its resources are broken down by state: https://www.thecivicscenter.org/resources. The League of Women Voters has a High School Voter Registration Manual (https://www.lwv.org/HSVRmanual) that offers practical advice as well. As if volunteering to run voter registration drives isn’t important enough in its own right, such work can even help students meet community service requirements!

Voting is a great equalizer and a powerful tool. It's a means for your voice to be heard, and for your choices to make a difference in your life and the lives of others. This may seem trite, but nobody’s vote is more important than yours, and none count more than yours. To be sure, some collective votes in certain districts or electoral regions can have a significant and perhaps disproportionate impact on the outcome of an election. But within each election district throughout the country, no one person’s vote is more valuable than another’s. The only votes that don’t count are the ones that are not cast.

So, as you embark on your senior year, along with planning your transition into college, a career, or future independence, make sure you include registering to vote as a high priority. Your future self will be proud that you did.