The Independent View: NYC Student Voter Registration Day

The NYC Campaign Finance Board have created a great pilot program designed to educate students in NYC schools about the importance of voting and civic engagement.

Student Voter Registration Day NYC Votes will be facilitating workshops (as well as registering eligible voters) in school classrooms around NYC on Friday March 20, 2015.

Student Voter Registration Day (SVRD) is a pilot program designed to build upon the great work already happening in NYC schools to educate students about the importance of voting and civic engagement. SVRD will be one day where NYC schools will collectively focus on civic engagement education, activities, and voter registration. For those students who are not eligible to vote, there will also be information about Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA) provided by accredited staff. The overarching message of the day is that all people – and particularly young people, regardless of immigration status – can and should be involved in their communities, because politics and elections affect their everyday lives. There are many different ways to get involved, whether through participatory budgeting, being involved in the local community board, joining an advocacy organization, or if eligible, voting every year in local, state, and national elections.

SVRD will be held annually the third Friday in March, on or near Democracy Day, which is the day 18-year-olds won the right to vote. This day was chosen because of its historical significance, and because more students in senior classes will be eligible to register to vote, as either 17-year-olds or 18-year-olds. The first annual SVRD will be held on Friday, March 20, 2015.

The intent of SVRD is to increase youth voter registration and to excite youth about being involved in the democratic process. SVRD is the product of a partnership between the City Council, led by the office of City Council Member Helen Rosenthal, the Campaign Finance Board’s voter engagement program: NYC Votes, the Department of Education, administrators, principals, teachers, and voter registration and civic engagement organizations. Contributions by teachers, principals, administrators, and the people who work with youth every day on civic engagement issues has been critical to developing SVRD’s approach and materials.

What will SVRD look like?

This first year, SVRD is running as a pilot in a select number of high schools, in a select number of City Council districts. These schools will be chosen collaboratively among participating City Council members, principals, teachers, and civic engagement organizations, with oversight by the Department of Education and the SVRD organizing team. SVRD activities will be custom-tailored for each participating school through discussions between the school leadership and the SVRD organizing team. Each participating school will be presented with a menu of different options which may vary from half-day workshops to full school civic fairs or classroom instruction.

In addition to different activities to choose from, a variety of lesson materials sourced from stakeholders and educators will be provided. For those teachers and schools that already have strong civic engagement and voter registration lessons, they are encouraged to participate in SVRD using their own materials, if they prefer. The costs associated with each type of engagement will vary by school, and again will be tailored based on a school’s resources. The majority of SVRD activity options will come at no additional cost to the school.

What are we asking for from school partners?

The office of Council Member Helen Rosenthal and NYC Votes have recruited a limited number of City Council Members to select a high school in their district to partner with on the SVRD pilot. When a school is invited to participate they will be presented with the range of options for SVRD activities. Schools are encouraged to bring SVRD to the attention of their administrators, teachers, student government, and other interested teacher or student bodies. Any member of the school community is welcome to participate in SVRD at whatever capacity they are able.

NYC Votes will provide interested schools with a survey to capture all of the basic information about that school’s preferred level of engagement and logistical considerations for SVRD. In partnership with NYC Votes, each school will solidify their plans for SVRD participation. Depending upon the level of engagement, NYC Votes staff, individuals trained by NYC Votes, or staff members and volunteers from well-established voter registration and civic engagement organizations will partner with the school to staff the events for SVRD. All workshop facilitators will be trained in advance of SVRD; teachers and administrators are welcome to attend these “train the trainer” sessions, but are not required. The time needed for each tier of participation will vary depending on the level of commitment from the school. If the school has elected to hold a full day event, school staff may be needed to help with the logistics and monitoring of the activities. For classroom instruction, teachers will need to be present though they are not required to lead SVRD activities. City Council Members will be encouraged to attend a training session at the school in their district and to speak with students about the importance of participating in the democratic process. To make sure the planning process moves forward smoothly, it’s recommended that each committed school designate a primary contact person for SVRD planning.

They are asking schools to commit to SVRD, to a specific level of engagement, and to working with their Council Member, NYC Votes, and a civic education organization (if applicable) by Monday, February 23rd.

Contact information:

Chyann Sapp

Youth Voter Coordinator, NYC Votes P: (212) 409-1844 csapp@nyccfb.info

Beth Newcomer

Legislative Aide, Council Member Helen Rosenthal

P: (212) 788-6975 enewcomer@council.nyc.gov

UPDATE

The names of over 1,500 new, young voters are joining the voter rolls after NYC’s first ever Student Voter Registration Day. On 3/20, 75 facilitators and volunteers fanned out to 25 public high schools, armed with NYC Votes’ civic engagement curriculum and stacks of voter registration cards, to talk to teens about the relevance of politics to their lives. Many thanks to coalition ‪#‎SVRDNYC‬ - Council Member Helen Rosenthal, NYC Board of Elections, participating Council Members and their teams and our various partner organizations - for a job well done. Here's to many more young voters getting onto the rolls and to the polls!