In 2014, Assembly Bill 1817 was signed by Governor Brown designating the last two full weeks in April and September to be High School Voter Education Weeks. This legislation provides an opportunity for high schools and their students to partner with county elections officials to promote civic education and participation on campus and foster an environment that cultivates lifelong voters and active citizens.
The program will encourage students to actively participate in our democracy, encourage voter registration and pre-registration for young people ages 16 and 17, and recruit students to serve as poll workers. The information distributed will provide nonpartisan information to high school students to encourage them to participate in the election process, including how and when to register or pre-register to vote, how to vote by mail, how to find their polling site, how to find information about candidates and issues, and how to find election results.
In addition, California Secretary of State, Alex Padilla, supports this initiative to engage high school students and prepare them to become active participants in our nation’s democracy.