Jessie Cai, a 17-year-old rising senior, was inspired to understand Asian American civic engagement after noticing the lack of representation in public service while shadowing her mom at work. She joined New Voters, an organization that helps high schoolers host voter registration drives. With the help of a mentor, Cai organized a successful registration drive at her high school, registering 186 students. New Voters, a youth-led nonprofit, has registered over 80,000 high schoolers to vote across 400 high schools in 39 states since 2018.
Youth voter turnout has been trending upward, with Gen Z voters turning out at higher rates than previous generations. New Voters aims to engage newly eligible youth by appealing to issues they care about, such as the climate crisis and gun violence. The organization also focuses on lowering barriers to voting, such as same-day registration.
Michael Hanmer, a professor, emphasizes the importance of building habits of civic engagement early, while students are still in high school. New Voters mentors like Collin Wang help students tailor their approaches to registering their peers and overcome challenges with school administrators. In addition to registration drives, New Voters has launched the New Voters Research Network and the New Voters Collaborative to further support high school civic engagement nationwide.
As the general election approaches, New Voters is targeting 400 drives and 40,000 new registrations in swing states like Pennsylvania and Arizona. High school government teacher Katie Walters highlights the importance of grassroots, student-to-student interactions in promoting voter registration. Overall, New Voters is dedicated to amplifying high school voices in politics and encouraging civic engagement among young people.
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