Students want high schools to do more to help them register to vote

Young people who are registered vote at rates similar to those of older people; the problem is that many young people are not registered in the first place. We wanted to see if one of the reasons young people are not registered is that they are not asked or taught how to do so. To test this theory, we asked college students about their experiences in high school. 

The Civics Center recently took a survey of college students from around the country to find out if they thought high schools should teach students how to register to vote. Over 90% of responding college students indicated that high schools should indeed teach students about registering.

Yet, when asked if they were taught the mechanics of how to register to vote during high school, a majority of respondents (74%) said no, they had not been taught how to do so. 

High schools have a responsibility to meet this expectation and support their students as they register and vote. Read our Report to learn more about our recommended actions for schools, school districts, and educators.