Marion County Clerk Beth White is visiting area schools with a presentation aimed at engaging the youngest voters. On Monday, she dropped by a Lutheran High School government class.
In 2008, White helped develop yVote, an outreach program teaches civic engagement.
"We talk a lot about student loans, we talk about school board and how the board is going to impact tax rates, and does it benefit you to have good schools in your neighborhood even if you don’t have kids that attend them," explained White.
Ahead of the Oct. 6 voter registration deadline, White is making the rounds, talking about and even demonstrating the election process. She says it’s important to reach potential voters at a young age.
"The statistics are very clear," White said. "There is a lot of academic research that says that if people get started early and engage early then they will be lifetime voters."
The students are eligible to register so long as they turn 18 by Election Day. She signed up 10 new voters on Monday, adding to the more than 3,300 young people that have registered with yVote over the past seven years.
