High School Voter Registration

About the Program

Category: Civic Education and Public Information (Best in Category)

Year: 2021

In 2019, Colorado passed a new piece of legislation, the Colorado Votes Act, which created important changes to the Colorado Election Model. A key change was granting 17-year-olds the right to vote in a primary election if they turned 18-years-old by the following general election. For 2020, this allowed many 17-year-olds to participate in two primary elections – the March Presidential Primary and the June Statewide Primary.In response to this new opportunity, Boulder County Elections developed a High School Voter Registration Program. This program created a “Student Voter Registration Awareness Week” and sought to identify a voter registration liaison at each public high school in the county. We then leveraged the connections with these liaisons to amplify and implement additional voter outreach and education efforts within the schools. Alongside the liaison outreach, we worked countywide to educate our community about this new opportunity to participate in our democracy and to prepare our newly enfranchised youth to vote.