Marshall HS students are helping to draft a congressional bill to increase teen voter registration

Prospective high school students across the U.S. could have an easier time registering to vote, a broadening of access that would be made possible in part by some current Marshall High School students.

A group of Pimmit Hills School students have spent the last year advocating for federal legislation that would designate all high schools as voter registration agencies, allowing them to hold voter registration drives and receive reimbursements.

After months of trying to combine lobbying with school work, they succeeded in getting the High School Voter Empowerment Act of 2024 introduced to Congress on April 30.

“If you told all of us a year ago that we would be introducing a bill to Congress, I don’t think any of us would have believed it,” rising senior Samad Quraishi told FFXnow in an interview earlier this month. “So, I think we were both shocked and pleasantly surprised when we found out that the bill was actually being introduced… We thought it was going to be a very uphill battle, but I think we also realized that it was possible for youth to get involved.”

Now organized as the nonprofit Center for Voter Initiatives and Action, with Quraishi as executive director, the students first became acquainted with each other as members of the Marshall Young Democrats Club.

They initially focused on campaigning, knocking on doors and calling candidates, but after coming across the 2021 version of the High School Voter Empowerment Act, they were inspired to delve into the political side of politics.

In September 2023, students began contacting members of Congress to support the bill, which was referred to committee in 2021 but never passed. That led to a meeting in October with a White House adviser to the vice president.

By the time the new bill was introduced by Republican Frederica Wilson (D-Florida) and Senator Laphonza Butler (D-Calif.), the team had visited more than 250 congressional offices and the Voter Center had grown into a national organization of more than 400 students, according to a press release volunteers.

The most important thing was organization and preparation. They delegated different responsibilities to individual participants, with some focusing on research or calling and emailing lawmakers, while others went to Capitol Hill.

“Even before we actually started going into offices and lobbying, we did a lot of work profiling Congress and meeting to see how we were going to talk about the bill and what language we were going to use,” Miranda Elliot Ortega said.

For her sister, Julia Elliot Ortega, meeting members of Congress meant having to immediately take the subway after school and rush to their offices. She describes the experience as “formative” because it helped her understand how policymaking works and how much effort it takes to engage ordinary citizens, even college students, who have the privilege of living near D.C. and have the resources to lobby for change.

Although they “didn’t have a lot of adult supervision,” Quraishi says Fairfax County Public Schools and its teachers “were very supportive,” particularly Amanda Schall, a world history teacher at Marshall who sponsors the Young Democrats Club, and Lucas Kline, a geography teacher who provided advice as a former attorney and political campaign worker.

Students also took advantage of the attendance policy, which allows students in grades 7 through 12 to miss one day of school per year for “optional civic engagement activities.” They used their day to meet with lawmakers and hold a news conference, FCPS said in a press release.

Although the students met primarily in the Young Democrats Club, and the bill’s authors in both houses so far are all Democrats, the legislation is intended to be nonpartisan and intended to encourage political involvement among all young voters, regardless of their position on a particular issue.

Eleanor Liang, a rising senior who serves as the Voter Center’s associate director for U.S. programs, told FFXnow that she has met with legislators from both the Republican and Democratic parties who have expressed support for the bill.

“Every side needs more voters, right?” she said. “Whether you’re a Democrat or a Republican, they just want young people to participate more.”

Turnout among young people, or those under 30, has generally increased in recent election cycles, and that trend is expected to continue in the 2024 general election. One survey found that about 53% of 18- to 29-year-olds “definitely” plan to vote — matching turnout in the 2020 presidential election.

But turnout varies by state, with election laws making it easier to register and cast a ballot a key differentiating factor, as well as issues of competitiveness among races on the ballot, according to CIRCLE.

Most states allow 17-year-olds to pre-register if they turn 18 on the next election day, and some, like Virginia, allow 16-year-olds to pre-register. As of 2020, Virginia also requires public high schools to provide eligible students with time during the school day to register to vote online or using a provided mail application.

The High School Voter Empowerment Act aims to make this the standard nationwide. Public high schools would be required to hold at least one registration drive each academic year to register all eligible students enrolled in economics or American government classes who will turn 17 by April 10 of that year.

High schools will also be able to apply to use voting machines for student council elections and seek registration travel reimbursement from the U.S. Department of Education.

Both the House and Senate have referred their versions of the bill to committees, but it is unclear when lawmakers could act.

Marshall students say many people their age are passionate about political issues — as evidenced in recent years by demonstrations supporting LGBTQ rights or protesting Israel’s war on Gaza — but don’t always know how to get involved.

Nia Gouvis says she didn’t know she could register to vote at 16 until she got involved with the initiative as a teenager, noting that the group held registration drives in Marshall to show how easy it was to register to vote voting.

“This bill stirs things up, really gives us a voice and makes it easier for us to make changes on the issues we care about,” said rising senior Vedansh Garg, Voter Center assistant director of international programs.