As the General Election date approaches on Nov. 5, students and teachers have increased advocacy for youth voting and civic engagement.
The Midtown Votes Club was established in 2021 as a chapter of the national nonpartisan organization When We All Vote. The club’s efforts educate students on voting, youth’s influence in elections, and how to register and vote.
“While I do not believe that most schools do a good enough job at informing students of upcoming elections, Midtown does a great job of promoting Midtown Votes,” Sammie Estep, a board member, said. “Many schools across the country do not offer clubs such as this one, which is one of the most prominent reasons why schools do a lousy job at informing their students of upcoming elections.”
Jason Slaven, club sponsor, said teaching high school students about elections is important. He believes voting is a habitual pattern, and students can start the cycle of voting young.
“I try to get students to stop thinking about politics as something that does not affect them and start to get them thinking about particular issues,” Slaven said.
Slaven said changing the curriculum for civics classes, a mandatory high school credit, can emphasize the importance of voting. He believes civics education can increase participation through education.
“There is a lot that can be changed about the civics curriculum,” Slaven said. “The fact that many students here still believe their vote doesn’t matter proves we need to revamp the civics curriculum.”
Midtown Votes recently collaborated with the Fulton County Voting Task Force to bring the Fulton County Voting Bus, which is an immersive mock voting experience to provide citizens with important voting and election information. The bus is used to enhance student’s understanding of the voting experience.
“A couple weeks ago, the voting bus came to Midtown, and seeing how many of my friends were interested in doing it, I wanted to try,” sophomore Royce Haralson said, “I think seeing other people vote creates a big impact and having the convenience of the voting buses makes it easier to get young voters to register.”
On Sept. 19, Midtown Votes sponsored another event during lunch to encourage students to get more involved in voting. On both sides of the bus, there were basketball hoops for students to enjoy and participate in a three on three game. Students could go inside the bus as well where there was a bed, couches, and photos of NBA players.
“I love basketball and have seen Hoop Atlanta on social media before and also a ton of people were walking over to participate so I decided to check it out as well,” Sophomore Cole Campbell said, “I think having the bus come to lunches got a lot of students interested because it is something new to try out, while helping promote voting as well.”
At the voter bus event, over 700 students participated in the experience and over 40 students directly registered to vote. Midtown Votes co-president Tyler Austin said allowing students to participate in an event like this, rather than just sitting through a lecture about voting or elections, motivates them to want to learn more about voting and participate.
“Doing a mock ballot is a really smart way to get students involved in voting,” Midtown Votes Vice President Tyler Austin said. “It draws students in and engages them in a voting prototype; that is also a knowledgeable experience about voting, which I think really motivates students to want to learn more.”
During the Walkout for Apalachee High School on Sept. 20, a group of Midtown students spoke in front of the school about the shooting that recently took place on Sept. 4 and tied it into the importance of voting.
Campbell said with the whole school in the stadium listening to them it was smart tying the points about school shootings into the importance of voting and how you can use your voice to make a difference.
Clubs and organizations like Midtown Votes and class discussions give upcoming voters knowledge to inform them about elections.
“Midtown Votes, though it does not raise awareness on either specific party, influences and encourages younger generations to not only strengthen and build their political efficacy, but also encourages eligible students to register to vote, ” Estep said.