Pate encourages student voter registration

By James Grob, jgrob@charlescitypress.com

School districts all over the state of Iowa will be making an effort to register students to vote next week.

“Schools are required by state law to conduct voter registration drives, but we want this to be a fun activity and hopefully inspire some competition between the schools,” Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate said. “We also want young people to understand that registering to vote and participating in elections are the best ways to make sure your voice is heard.”

Pate is encouraging Iowa high schools to conduct voter registration drives on Tuesday, March 3.

Every school that registers at least 90 percent of its eligible students to vote receives the Carrie Chapman Catt Award, named after the Charles City woman who was a national leader in the women’s suffrage movement. The deadline for this school year is April 1, 2020.

A new state law allows 17-year-olds to register to vote in Iowa. Students can also participate in the June primary election if they will be 18 years old on or before the Nov. 3 general election. There are approximately 5,000 17-year-olds registered to vote in Iowa.

“For years before this event was announced the Charles City High School has been working to politically motivate students to be engaged in the process through voter registration,” said Sarah Downing, Charles City High School social studies teacher.

“The state’s Carrie Chapman Catt designation will be a nice recognition when we reach the proper threshold, but more importantly, we will be instilling the importance of civic engagement into our youngest citizens,” Downing said.

The recognition could be especially important in Charles City, as Catt grew up here.

The Carrie Lane Chapman Catt Girlhood Home and Museum, located near Charles City, is a historic site that provides an opportunity for guests to visit the home where her personality was formed by her family and community.

At the age of 7, Chapman Catt’s family moved to rural Charles City, where she graduated from high school in 1877. In 1880, she graduated from the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm in Ames (now Iowa State University) at the top of her class. She was also the only woman in her graduating class.

After college, she returned to Charles City to work as a law clerk and, in nearby Mason City, as a school teacher and a principal. In 1883, she became one of the first women in the nation appointed a superintendent of schools.

Nashua-Plainfield is one of nine schools that have already qualified for the Carrie Chapman Catt Award this year by registering 90 percent of eligible students.

The others are Ballard, Fort Madison, Newton Christian Academy in Cedar Rapids, South Page, Newman Catholic in Mason City, Cedar Rapids Prairie, Rivermont Collegiate in Bettendorf and Walnut Creek in West Des Moines.

Three other schools in Iowa have registered at least 75 percent of eligible students, and eight schools have registered at least 50 percent. They will also receive statewide recognition.

Partnering with Project High Hopes and the YMCA Youth and Government organization, Pate’s Office will provide resources to help schools across the state organize and conduct voter registration drives.

“As a former social studies teacher, I applaud this effort to connect with students and build the skills they need to become engaged citizens and lifelong voters,” said Ryan Wise, director of the Iowa Department of Education.

Along with March 3 being a significant date in the presidential nominating process in several states, there are dozens of special elections across Iowa that day, including the North Iowa Area Community College bond referendum.