A few times in the past weeks, you may have noticed a table registering seniors to vote. This table is run by a community partnership called Voterama.

Started by a group of students in 2021, Voterama’s goal is to spread voter education and support young people in exercising their right to vote. They do this by partnering with multiple organizations, such as When We All Vote and the League of Women Voters.

Last year, Voterama’s focus was mainly on education. They had students volunteer to be election judges and speak with voting rights attorneys and elected officials. In addition, they provided voter education to students in the Upper School on topics such as redistricting and the outcomes of the municipal election. 

This year, with the midterm elections so close, they want to focus on motivating eligible seniors to exercise their right to vote. Historically, voters from ages 18-25 have had some of the lowest voter turnout of any age group in the US. On top of this being a time of immense change in young people’s lives, voter education is not very accessible It can be a struggle for students to navigate voting laws in a new place or to vote absentee. 

Voterama works to provide the resources and opportunities that aren’t available to young people. According to Ms. Pearson, the advisor of Voterama, is important for young people to “take the things that you care about in the world, and follow through and take action on them” because “exercising one’s right to vote is like step one”.  

So far this year, Voterama has conducted two voter registration drives, hoping to register as many seniors as possible before the deadline, October 18th. So if you are going to be eighteen by November 8th, go sign up with Voterama!

At the first voter registration drive, Voterama registered 5 students to vote. This may not seem like a groundbreaking number, but every voice matters. No matter how many students are registered, having accessible voter education and registration helps show students how easy and important voting is. If every school did this kind of work, a huge difference could be made in the voter turnout and civic engagement of first-time voters.