The get-out-the-vote effort has spread to high schools.
Schools in the Baltimore area have been spreading the word by sending voting registration information to parents, hanging fliers highlighting candidates? positions and even staging mock primaries.
“The kids really seem to be informed,” said Sean White, chairman of the social studies department at Northeast High School in Pasadena. “Whether they?re talking to their parents or seeing it on the news, they can see the impact it?ll have on their lives.”
The voting dynamic among students has changed even more this year, with some 17-year-olds now eligible to vote, said Mark Stout, coordinator of the Howard County schools social studies department.
Last week, the Maryland Court of Appeals ruled that 17-year-olds who turn 18 by the November general election may vote in the primary, including nonpartisan school board elections.
In Howard County, seven candidates are vying for three slots on the school board. After the primary, six will move on to compete in November.
One such 17-year-old to vote is Caroline Rosenvold, a senior at Mount Hebron High School in Ellicott City, who will be earning some extra cash as an elections judge today.
“I think it was a good idea for them to change it, because it?s stupid for us to vote in November without first having a say in the primary,” she said.
One of the most active groups to register students in Howard schools has been the League of Women Voters of Howard County, which registered 685 students this winter.
“A lot of young people are unwilling to commit,” said Grace Kubofcik, the league?s co-president. “But we?re saying to them that you can change your party affiliation your whole lifetime.”
