“Registering to vote should be as much a part of the high school experience as Prom or Homecoming,” says The Civics Center Founder & CEO Laura W. Brill, former law clerk to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg

High School students are registered to vote at much lower rates than older Americans but, when registered, turn out at high rates. Going back to 2004, over 75% of registered 18 to 24-year-olds voted in presidential elections. 70% of teens live in states where they can register as early as 16 or 17, making high school the ideal time and place to set students on a road to active civic engagement.

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High School Voter Registration Week is September 23-27, 2024. (Graphic: Business Wire)

Since 2018, The Civics Center has led a national, nonpartisan effort to help high school students lead voter registration drives in school. The non-profit uses a two-pronged approach: focusing on data to identify where youth registration lags, and then empowering educators and students to hold voter registration drives. The Civics Center Founder/CEO Laura W. Brill, a former law clerk to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, believes that “Voter registration should be just as much a part of the high school experience as Prom or Homecoming or being on a sports team.”

The Civics Center is focusing its efforts this year on a nationwide effort to engage young people via “High School Voter Registration Week” from September 23-27. High schools across the country will be holding drives, before state registration deadlines kick in, to make sure eligible students can vote this November. As that effort approaches, and in the wake of reports that some teachers are feeling too intimidated to discuss the upcoming election with their students, The Civics Center stands by the principle that voter registration isn’t about voting one way or another, it’s about participating fully in our democracy.

• Opportunity: Four million young people turn 18 every year. In states with competitive elections, the number of youth who turn 18 between election cycles dwarfs the margins of victory. We estimate that only 30% of 18-year-olds are registered to vote. 70% of Americans live in states where they can preregister as early as 16 or 17, making high schools the time and place to get it done.

• Measurability & data: Through our innovative work with voter files and census data, we can estimate the voter registration rates for 18-year-olds on a hyper local basis. We use this work to create “Scorecards” and reports that reveal where engagement is lacking, motivate stakeholders, promote competition, and measure progress over time.

• College VR programs and registration at the DMV are not enough: About 40% of high school students do not go on to college. Once they leave high school, it may be years before they participate in elections. According to the National Highway Administration, about 40% of US 18-year-olds do not have a driver's license.

About The Civics Center: We have found through our work that peer-to-peer voter registration drives are most effective as both a method of engagement and a lesson in democracy. We create and provide free resources for high school students and teachers to bring the activity to their schools, with the goal of embedding it as an ongoing activity. The structure, support, and recurring educational cycle make high schools the most efficient, equitable and scalable system we have for getting young people registered to vote. See HERE for short video on the importance of high school voter registration engagement. The Civics Center is a project of Community Partners (501c3).

About Laura W. Brill: An award-winning advocate with more than two decades of experience working on complex legal issues and advocating for equal voting rights and the LGBTQ+ community. Ms. Brill launched The Civics Center in 2018 to stop youth voter suppression and tackle the decades-old problem of low youth turnout.

First in her class at Columbia Law School, Laura W. Brill clerked at the two highest courts in the United States: for Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (with whom she co-authored several articles) and for the Honorable Wilfred Fineberg on the US Court of Appeals for the 2^nd Circuit. After clerking, Brill joined Irell & Manella, one of the biggest law firms in Los Angeles for 12 years, first as an associate and then as a Partner. A Founding Partner at Kendall Brill & Kelly, Ms. Brill has secured precedent-setting victories in numerous appearances before state and federal courts. Ms. Brill has been a law school guest lecturer at Yale, Georgetown, UCLA, and USC. She is a thought leader who publishes and speaks widely on legal issues, including the First Amendment, entertainment and copyright law, appellate practice, and the legal profession.

Clerkships:

U.S. Supreme Court: Law Clerk, Hon. Ruth Bader Ginsburg

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit: Law Clerk, Hon. Wilfred Feinberg

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