City registers more than 10,000 high school students to vote
More than 10,000 high school students registered to vote last month during New York’s first citywide student voter registration drive, according to City Hall.
The drive was held at 294 schools across the five boroughs on May 21. The 10,000 new voters will represent a significant increase in the number of 18-year-olds registered to vote in the city — before the drive, there were 14,910 18-year-olds registered, according to the Campaign Finance Board.
“Our students are the future leaders of our country, and they should – at an early age – realize the power their voices hold in reshaping America,” Mayor de Blasio said in a statement. “These 10,000 new student voters will help strengthen our democratic process for years to come. I encourage all students to continue registering to vote and show up at the polls, because this is your country and your voice matters.”
Among the city high school students who registered this year is Chantelle Perez, 18, of the Bronx, who attends the High School for Health Professions and Human Services in Manhattan. She was moved to register after taking a government class.
“I’ve never really learned about the government that my country abides by — I’ve always learned the history of it, and how it used to be,” she said. “I never actually learned what was going on in the government here in the country that I’m living in.”
Perez, who wants to be a doctor and will attend Utica College in the fall, said she didn’t grow up in a household where politics is discussed, and she’s not much of a fan of the subject herself. But the class made her realize there are lots of government issues that hit close to home.
“Voting is — it’s such a simple way to kind of cause a chain reaction, and I don’t think a lot of my peers know that,” she said.
Perez said she’s looking forward to brushing up on the candidates and the issues before this fall’s elections — and said being able to register at school was one way to put the issue on teens’ radars.
“I do have like other things to worry about like graduation and college and stuff,” she said. “But I do think I should kind of put some space aside for that topic.”
More than 10,000 high school students registered to vote last month during New York’s first citywide student voter registration drive, according to City Hall.
The drive was held at 294 schools across the five boroughs on May 21. The 10,000 new voters will represent a significant increase in the number of 18-year-olds registered to vote in the city — before the drive, there were 14,910 18-year-olds registered, according to the Campaign Finance Board.
“Our students are the future leaders of our country, and they should – at an early age – realize the power their voices hold in reshaping America,” Mayor de Blasio said in a statement. “These 10,000 new student voters will help strengthen our democratic process for years to come. I encourage all students to continue registering to vote and show up at the polls, because this is your country and your voice matters.”
Among the city high school students who registered this year is Chantelle Perez, 18, of the Bronx, who attends the High School for Health Professions and Human Services in Manhattan. She was moved to register after taking a government class.
“I’ve never really learned about the government that my country abides by — I’ve always learned the history of it, and how it used to be,” she said. “I never actually learned what was going on in the government here in the country that I’m living in.”
Perez, who wants to be a doctor and will attend Utica College in the fall, said she didn’t grow up in a household where politics is discussed, and she’s not much of a fan of the subject herself. But the class made her realize there are lots of government issues that hit close to home.
“Voting is — it’s such a simple way to kind of cause a chain reaction, and I don’t think a lot of my peers know that,” she said.
Perez said she’s looking forward to brushing up on the candidates and the issues before this fall’s elections — and said being able to register at school was one way to put the issue on teens’ radars.
“I do have like other things to worry about like graduation and college and stuff,” she said. “But I do think I should kind of put some space aside for that topic.”
