Civics study
High school principals should be helping more of their students who are 18 to register to vote.
As high school seniors in our area finally head back to school this week, one of the most important lessons they ought to learn deals with a basic obligation of citizenship. After they turn 18, they should register and vote.
A little-known provision of the Texas Election Code was written to help teach that lesson. State law requires all high school principals in Texas — or someone they designate — to serve as deputy voter registrars in their schools. That’s a fancy way of saying principals are expected to give voter registration applications to students who will turn 18 before Election Day.
The noble intent behind this part of the election code is stimulating civic engagement among our state’s youngest voters. Signing them up to vote when they’re young might make going to the polls a lifelong habit. Considering the low turnout in most of our elections, any idea that might encourage more citizens to cast ballots is welcome.
Unfortunately, it seems most of our state’s high school principals either don’t know or don’t care about this part of their job. Texas Secretary of State Rolando Pablos reports that fewer than 200 of the more than 1,400 public high school principals in our state asked for voter registration applications before the 2016 elections. As any high school math teacher can figure out, that amounts to about 14 percent.
State law on this subject is quite clear. The election code plainly says, “At least twice each school year, a high school deputy registrar shall distribute an officially prescribed registration application form to each student who is or will be 18 years of age or older during that year ...”
That’s why our state’s highest-ranking elections official is on a mission to encourage high school principals to sign their students up to vote. He has publicly promised he’ll make it as easy as possible for principals to receive the materials they need to register students turning 18. He has vowed that every public high school principal in the state will receive a packet of information reminding them about this widely neglected part of their job. They’ll also receive an order form for voter registration applications.
At a time when Republicans and Democrats are fighting about voter ID’s and accusations of vote suppression, it’s especially heartening to see a state official waving a nonpartisan flag for broader voter registration. We appreciate everything educators do for our students, and we know school principals have a lot of issues on their plates, especially with so many students and teachers dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey. But we urge high school principals to follow the secretary of state’s lead and do whatever they can to make registration applications available to our state’s youngest voters.