Voter Registration Drive Coordinator’s Information 2016-17

Why is this initiative important? So here is our main question: Why is it important to conduct a voter registration drive. For most people, this is a no-brianer. Of course voting is important. But in case you have to provide a compelling reason to staff, students or parents, the next few slides provide a general overview.

Teaching Students the Importance of Voting and Elections Social Studies Curriculum Civic Responsibility Active Participation In Democratic Process Part Of The District’s Strategic Plan Conducting a voter registration drive is important for a variety of reasons: Elections and their importance is part of the high school social studies curriculum It is important to stress that preparing to vote (including the registration process and becoming and informed voter) is a civic responsibility. We want to encourage our students to actively engage in the democratic process. It is actually part of our district’s strategic plan

District Goal By 2020, WCPSS will annually graduate at least 95% of its students ready for productive citizenship as well as higher education or a career. Here is the Goal as it is listed in the strategic plan: By 2020, WCPSS will annually graduate at least 95% of its students ready for productive citizenship as well as higher education or a career.

To view the entire Strategic Plan, use this link: Goal Measures Includes the following: Voter registration of 18-year olds in high school Participation for 18-25 year olds in elections Student volunteerism To view the entire Strategic Plan, use this link: http://www.wcpss.net/strategic-plan In addition to graduation rates, this goal will be measured using Voter registration of 18-year olds in high school Participation for 18-25 year olds in elections Student volunteerism rates As you can see, Voter Registration plays a vital role in this plan so it is imperative that all schools make a concerted effort to afford all eligible students easy access to the process and assistance as needed. Please work with your administration to create a plan that will attempt to engage each eligible student and provide them with an opportunity register. The schools that have had the greatest success rate in the past have run a birthday list from Powerschools and reached out to all eligible students personally. Your data manager can run this report for you. The other thing that helps is providing students the time to complete the form at the moment of contact. Fewer forms are returned if students take it with them to complete later. Regardless of the approach you take, voter registration should be presented as an opportunity; students should feel no pressure to register. For more information on the Strategic Plan, feel free to use the link provided in the PowerPoint.

Registration Drive Data 2015-16

Guiding Legislation and Critical Dates I want to take a moment to review legislation related to voter registration and dates that will be critical to this year’s drives.

House Bill 589 (enacted August 2013) Eliminates pre-registration of 16- and 17- year-olds Requires high schools to have a “sufficient supply” of registration forms Photo ID will be required starting with elections in 2016 For the full text of the law, use this link: http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/Sessions/2013/Bills/House/PDF/H589v8.pdf

4th Circuit Ruling Photo ID cannot be required Restores a week of early voting Restores preregistration for 16- and 17-year-olds Ensures that same-day registration and out-of-precinct voting will remain in effect.

Voter Registration Drive Dates for 2016-17 Fall Drive: September 19-30 Spring Drive: ??? Rolling registration periods are encouraged Is official drive needed?

Who Can Register? For the Fall Drive Students that will be 18 or older on or before November 8, 2016 Students that will be 16- and 17-years old by Nov. 8

Implications for Schools Now let’s talk about some of the practical implications for schools as they move forward on this initiative.

General Rules It is illegal to offer any type of prize or incentive that encourages people to register to vote. Do not fill out parts of the form for anyone. Do not make corrections to forms. Do not attempt to influence party affiliation. Do not seal a form if the owner of the form did not seal it. Students should not handle other students’ completed forms. Completed forms must be stored in a locked, secure location. As you conduct your drive, please keep a few rules in mind: Do not offer any type of prize or incentive to those who register to vote. This includes items like stickers and candy. I know these seem like minor incentives but doing this is actually illegal. You may enlist the help of students but no one working on this initiative is allowed to fill out forms for others (even partially) or attempt to influence another person’s choice of party affiliation. If someone makes a mistake when they fill out the form, please return it to the form’s owner to fix…or give them a new one to complete. Here are a few more items to be mindful of: If the person that completes the form seals it up, that is fine, but if they leave it unsealed, do not seal it yourself. Students should not handle other students’ completed forms. This should only be done by staff members. Lastly, completed forms must be stored in a locked, secure location until they are ready to be turned in to central office.

Turning Forms In Count total and complete cover sheet Put completed forms and cover sheet into a courier envelope Send through courier to “Abby Stotsenberg, High School Programs”

Supplies Order your supply of blank forms using this link: http://www.ncsbe.gov/Voter-Information/VR-Form Extra forms should he housed in the front office per House Bill 589 as we discussed earlier. If you need additional forms, please let me know as soon as you realize that you are running low.

Filling out the forms The next several slides will help you provide guidance to students as they fill out the Voter Registration Drive Form.

Instructions from the Board of Elections The Wake County Board of Elections has provided the instructions on this slide. This part is critical so please help to ensure students do this correctly. When filling out the form, they must use a Black or Blue pen. This must be completed in INK and handwriting must be legible. A digital copy of this document can be found on the high school social studies wiki. A link is provided at the end of this presentation.

Part One The next several slides will take you through each part of the Voter Registration Form. To start, students must be able to answer “Yes” to both of these questions in order to continue to complete the form. If their answer is “No” to either, they must stop this process. Note that the question about being 18 on or before the election is referring the General Election in November. As stated several times already, students registering in January 2016 can register as long as they will be 18 by November 8, 2016.

Parts Two & Three For Part Two, students are filling in their full legal name. Help students understand that the section that is circled above serves to indicate a distinction within their name. For example: They are John Smith Junior or Michael Jones the IV. This is NOT intended to indicate that they are a junior or senior in high school. This is a very common error made by high school students so we appreciate your efforts to clarify this for them. For Part Three: Students need to enter a Date of Birth, State of Birth and County of Birth. They likely do not have a NC Voter Registration number so this can be left blank. If they have a NC drivers license, they should enter the number. The same holds for last four digits of their Social Security Number. Have them check the box only if they do not have a NC drivers license, ID card or SSN.

Parts Four & Five For Part 4, students should enter their physical address and check whether or not they have lived there 30 days or more. Part Five is only necessary if their mailing address is separate from their physical address. Most people will likely be able to leave Part Five blank.

Parts Six & Seven They should complete all parts of part 6. No one should influence them to choose a specific party. If they are unsure, they should be encouraged to research their affiliation prior to making a decision. You are allowed to explain what “unaffiliated” means if they are unsure. Part 7 can be left blank unless they are already registered to vote under another address. If they previously registered, they need to list the addressed used for the previous registration which will be used to cancel that registration and update the books with their current address.

Signature & Date Finally, registrants must sign and date their form. Their signature attests that the form is accurate and that they meet all the qualifications for voting in NC. Filling out this form fraudulently is a Class I Felony under chapter 163 of the North Carolina General Statutes.

Important Reminders All completed forms must be kept in a locked, secure location. If you get forms once the drive has ended, you have a couple of options: You or the student can mail it to the Wake County Board of Elections You or the student can drop it off at the Board of Elections You can send it to me via courier and I will get it to the Board of Elections Please remember to lock up completed forms that you receive during the drive. If you get forms once the drive has ended, you have a couple of options: You or the student can mail it to the Wake County Board of Elections. It is okay to give them a stamp if you have the resources to do so. Please let students know that forms have to be in 25 days before the election so if it is outside that window, they will likely have to wait until the next election to vote. You or the student can drop it off at the Board of Elections in downtown Raleigh You can send it to me via courier and I will get it to the Board of Elections. If you choose this option, please send me an email so I know to be on the lookout for it.

Practical Approaches and best Practices

For More information Contact me via email: astotsenberg@wcpss.net Call me directly: 919-533-7188 Consult the wiki for additional information and documents to support your voter registration initiative. Here is the link: http://wcpsssocialstudies.pbworks.com/w/page/67581336/Voter%20Registration%20Drives If you have questions or concerns, feel free to email me, call me or consult the wiki. If you need additional blank registration forms, please email me with your request. Thank you so much for your time and patience. Best wishes to you during the school year!