On Sept. 17, the League of Women Voters (LWV) hosted an event to register new voters, pre-register high school students, and provide applications for mail-in ballots, bringing a wave of civic engagement to Depot Square.
With the upcoming national elections on Nov. 5, the LWV is focused on registering high school students who are of voting age. For many of these students, this event offered them their first glimpse into the democratic process, providing them with resources to be active participants in their communities.
Throughout the event, LWV volunteers explained the process of voter registration, shared information about the upcoming elections, and highlighted the substantial impact young people can have on their communities by voting. This event drew attention to the broader challenge of engaging young voters, a demographic often underrepresented in polls. Some students say a lack of knowledge regarding the voting process contributes to this underrepresentation.
“The school hasn’t been very vocal about the voting process. What I know about signing up for voting and organizing mail-in ballots comes from my research or specific teachers to whom I have asked questions. I am in AP Government and Politics this year, so I have the opportunity to learn a lot more in-depth about the voting process than most other students do. I imagine it is much harder for students who aren’t in these types of classes to find out how to sign up for voting,” Sophie Shaw, a senior at Lexington High School, said.
One goal of the LWV’s event was to bridge this gap by making voter registration accessible to first-time voters.
“When people are starting to vote, it can be a bit daunting sometimes because you need to get signatures and you sign forms. So I think initiatives can help people actually get it started and realize that it’s not as complex as it might seem,” Anika Singh, a junior for the Get Ready to Vote Publicity Team, said.
Having students such as Singh involved in planning the event also gave high school students more of a voice in this election.
“We didn’t know much about voting [before]. We just knew that when you’re 18, you go and vote, but we didn’t know all the different deadlines or the dates,” Singh said.
In terms of the actual day of the event, Singh was surprised by how many influential people appreciated LMV’s work.
“Many people came to our table, not to actually pre-register or get a mail-in ballot, but people just came because they wanted to see us. Other politicians and the town clerk were very interested in seeing this happen,” Singh said.
However, Singh also appreciated the proactiveness the Lexington community had in registering to vote, even without the League’s support.
“We [saw] people walking by and asked, ‘Did you pre-register?’ And they’re like, ‘Yeah, we’ve done that. We’ve taken care of it. We’re all ready to go.’ So that was really nice to see,” Singh said.
In the final weeks leading up to Nov. 5, Shaw hopes to see more facts spread about the election, especially within LHS.
“I think information about candidates, especially those running for local and state elections, and smaller ballot issues like initiatives would be helpful to broadcast to the greater LHS community,” Shaw said.
