Arizona survey shows students don’t know voter registration laws

The findings from our survey in our most recent blog post showed that most young people want high schools to teach them about voter registration, but few schools are actually doing so. We wanted to find out if teaching about registration was necessary, or if students already knew the rules and mechanics of voter registration. So, we took another survey, focused on students in Arizona, to find out whether this lack of attention by high schools correlated with a lack of knowledge regarding voting rights and rules governing voter registration.

We asked college students from Arizona about pre-18 voter registration eligibility in their state. Specifically, we asked at what age people in Arizona would be old enough to register to vote. Only 20% of respondents answered correctly.

These responses offer an example of the consequences of an insufficient focus on civics and voter registration in high school. Students don’t know about important voting laws, and this could result in missing opportunities to organize and get students registered well in advance of deadlines and in the crush of election time. When students are not registered as soon as they become eligible, they don’t appear in voter files. That means they will be invisible to candidates and issue-advocacy groups that focus on mobilizing likely voters. 

Increasing youth civic engagement and voter turnout requires a stronger commitment to teaching about these topics in high school. Our recent Report found that the school districts in Los Angeles County that reported more robust voter registration activities generally had higher registration rates among 18-year-olds. If these findings are consistent across the country, then dedicating school time and resources to civics could have a strong, positive impact on young people. Schools should act now to build a strong civics foundation for their students and support them in their registration efforts.