Testimony on H. B. 350 High School Seniors Working as Precinct Officers Before the Senate State and Local Government and Veterans Affairs Committee The Honorable Gary Cates, Chair
Jeff Cabot, Kids Voting Central Ohio
April 30, 2008
Chairman Cates, Ranking Member Fedor and members of the Senate State and Local Government and Veterans Affairs Committee, my name is Jeff Cabot, and I am Executive Director of the Central Ohio Affiliate of Kids Voting USA®.
With me today is Suzanne Helmick, the founding Director of Kids Voting Central Ohio, and Deborah Koch, who directs our Youth at the Booth efforts. We also arranged for two of the students who worked at the polls in Franklin County last November and again in March to share some of their first-hand experiences with you.
I am representing the two Kids Voting programs in Ohio that run Youth at the Booth programs in coordination with schools and our local boards of elections. These Kids Voting programs are headquartered in Columbus and in Dayton.
Kids Voting is based on the belief that civic education must take place both in and outside of the classroom. The curriculum we provide to schools has a significant community service component to involve students in community service activities, using the community as the laboratory for building civic skills. Encouraging high school students to work alongside adults as actual poll workers is a logical extension of our program.
I am speaking in support of H.B. 350 -- especially Section E. of this bill, which expands the number of underage students who can work as precinct election officials beyond the single student limit established under H.B. 234, enacted in 2005.
Following the enactment of H.B. 234, Kids Voting in Columbus began working with our board of elections to create the Youth at the Booth project. Since Kids Voting already had relationships with area high schools, the BOE partnered with us to communicate with teachers, recruit students, and conduct the training of these students. Youth at the Booth was piloted in Montgomery County for the 2007 primary and was expanded to three other nearby counties in November 2007.
Since H.B. 234 went into effect in early 2006, our two Youth at the Booth programs have recruited and placed nearly 4,000 high school seniors as poll workers. At least another 1,200 have been recruited but did not end up working at the polls, oftentimes because of the limitation on the number of 17-year-old students per precinct.
Kids Voting Central Ohio 60 East Broad Street 3rd Floor Columbus, OH 43215 www.kidsvotingoh.org [email protected] 614/224-3555 Kids Voting Central Ohio Testimony on H. B. 350, page 2
While several counties have used high school poll workers, we believe that Franklin County is among the most active. We would like to share some of our experiences with the members of this committee.
First, we work very closely with the Franklin County Board of Elections (BOE) in every aspect of this program. We met with them to devise the program and meet before, after and during each election to make sure the program is running smoothly.
Second, we work closely with high school government teachers. After first getting the permission from the school principals, communications now go directly through the teachers. We schedule and hold the training sessions at the schools to accommodate the number of students being trained. Teachers have told us that they believe far fewer students would participate if recruiting and training did not happen at school.
Third, the students take this responsibility very seriously and perform their roles very well. The Franklin County Board of Elections (BOE) has received very few complaints about the performance of the students, FAR less than they receive about poll workers in general. The Board of Elections has received MANY unsolicited notes and emails praising the Youth at the Booth students. After last November’s election, the BOE wrote all presiding judges who had high school students assigned to their precinct and have received scores of great comments. I brought a few, just to give you the flavor of these responses. The Franklin County BOE was sufficiently impressed with the students’ ease with new technologies that they made all students “Voting Machine Judges” last fall and also in the March primary.
Kids Voting staff have visited many of the polling places where Youth at the Booth students were assigned. We have been impressed by the energy, maturity and commitment of students. And we believe that these qualities will be reflected in the thousands of young poll workers this bill will bring into the election process.
Fourth, working at the polls is having a significant impact on these high school students. Teachers with students in AP government have told us that Youth at the Booth has changed their students. They base this on listening to the students talk about their experience, how long after the election students continue to talk about it, and the kinds of comments their students make to each other and to the teachers.
Kids Voting Central Ohio 60 East Broad Street 3rd Floor Columbus, OH 43215 www.kidsvotingoh.org [email protected] 614/224-3555 Kids Voting Central Ohio Testimony on H. B. 350, page 3
After each election we send surveys to students who worked at the polls and generally have had 25-35% of these questionnaires completed and mailed to us. Their comments show that these students are: Much more motivated to vote in the future because of this experience Very likely to have encouraged peers or family members to vote, because of the training they receive and their increased attention to candidates Highly motivated to work at the polls in future elections Likely to have more confidence in the election process and the voting equipment
And last, student interest in gaining this experience far exceeds the opportunities available based on one student per precinct. In fact, so many students want to be Youth at the Booth that in many districts with multiple high schools, far more students are being turned away than are placed at a polling precinct.
Although our experience is limited to working with high school student, we also support Section B of this bill. Based on the number of high school students who tell us they want to work at the polls again, we think college students will take advantage of this opportunity if boards of elections in college counties reach out to them to staff their polls.
As I mentioned, Megan Adams and Katie Cole who are two of our “Youth at the Booth” students will tell you more about the experience they had working at the polls twice in the past seven months.
We strongly believe that passage of this bill will give more of our future voters a unique, hands-on experience in the election process. It will empower many more students to know they can make a difference even before they are old enough to vote.
Thank you for the opportunity to testify and I will be happy to answer any questions you may have.
Kids Voting is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, grassroots organization affiliated with Kids Voting USA®. Our mission is to teach students about the concepts of citizenship, civic responsibility, democracy and the importance of political participation in an effort to develop the knowledge, skills, and motivation students need to become effective citizens.
Kids Voting combines innovative classroom activities for grades K-12 with an authentic voting experience to help students gain knowledge, skills and confidence to be active citizens. We accomplish this by working with educators, students, parents, elected officials and community organizations. Students in grades K-12 take part in hands-on learning experiences, including community service activities, designed to strengthen participation in the community and the democratic process.
One of the key elements of the program is that students are able to cast Kids Voting ballots on Election Day, researching and then voting on the same candidates and issues as the adults.
Kids Voting Central Ohio 60 East Broad Street 3rd Floor Columbus, OH 43215 www.kidsvotingoh.org [email protected] 614/224-3555