Last call: Final days for high schools to register 18-year-olds to vote Nov. 3

Retired Kansas City Public Schools teacher Rachel Williamson helps Central High School senior Damarcus Hawkins register to vote.

Maybe the tall youth stepping out of the pickup was here for Central High School’s voter registration drive. Maybe not.

It didn’t matter to Rachel Williamson. The retired teacher made tracks toward him with her clipboard of voter registration cards all the same.

As it was, Central senior Damarcus Hawkins was simply heading for football practice.

Are you 18 years old? Are you registered to vote? Williamson stopped him with her questions.

To register to vote go to:

Vote411.org or Vote.org

Deadline in Missouri to register for Nov. 3 election: Oct. 7

Like many high school seniors, Hawkins’s answers were yes and no, in that order. And with a fast-approaching deadline of Oct. 7 to register to vote in the Nov. 3 election, this is the last call for school communities to turn those second answers to a yes.

This time around, with so many high school students learning at home online, schools have to get creative in getting these potential newest voters enrolled.

This event at Central was a drive-up registration drive, but schools also need to gather students in their online classrooms and take them through the registration process virtually — and many schools are. LINC is working with schools to help in the registration efforts.

Once youths see they are registered, the idea of actually voting can take root, and suddenly the idea of making a plan and marking a ballot seems possible — including for Hawkins.

“It’s exciting,” he said once his registration card was filled out. “I know every vote counts,” he said. “Hopefully people will get what they want and make America better.”

Williamson has seen the same enthusiasm among youths as she, the district and the NAACP have organized to get new voters registered.

“The earlier they get involved, the better,” Williamson said. “I’ve seen so many people, 40 years old and 50 years old, who say they’ve never voted. If it (voting) becomes a part of you when you’re younger . . . it becomes a habit.”

For democracy, she said, “this is training.”

LINC’s Melcher Elementary School Caring Communities Site Coordinator Calvin Wainright joined the registration drive at Central, and is pushing for other schools to do the same, safely in-person or in groups online.

“Some of their parents were taught their vote didn’t matter,” Wainright said. “I want our youth to know that the political field matters and their voices matter and change the culture of our nation. I don’t want them to be in a state like me almost 50 years later still dealing with the same things that could affect them 50 years later.”

There are many websites where a new voter or a voter who has changed addresses can register, including Vote411.org, Vote.org, and the Missouri Secretary of State’s webpage. Anyone who will be 18 on Nov. 3 can register.

Schools, teachers, counselors can still organize online gatherings — either in special sessions or during a civics class — and use the online registration links, said Darryl Bush, LINC’s King Elementary School Caring Communities Site Coordinator.

“Our objective is to create a conscious awareness in young citizens regarding the power of their voices,” Bush said. “Specifically the importance of being involved in the local decision-making process that impacts their community.”

Now is the time, because Oct. 7 — Wednesday — is the last day to get on the rolls.

Other students who came by the Central voter registration tables likewise urged their peers to register and vote.

“It's important for people to protest, but it's not enough,” Central student Riley Pendleton said for the Kansas City Public Schools’ Student Voices webpage. “Voting is the most important thing we can do to make a change. Real change is going to start with the election. You can't vote if you're not registered.”

“As minority children, we don’t usually get heard,” Southeast High School student O'Bon Robinson said for Student Voices. “I want to live in a world where we can focus on the positive instead of all these negatives. I want to focus on making a positive impact on the world. That impact starts with voting.”

These last few days of registration have become a sprint. The district set up the outside vent with the NAACP for the entire district, but Central will also reach out to its eligible students online in the few days ahead, said Courtney Adams, Central’s Family and Community Engagement Coordinator.

“This is your country,” Adams said, offering a message to teen voters. “What you believe matters. Your voice matters.”

High school seniors have a lot on their minds, she conceded. They are looking toward college, getting ready to start jobs.

But this is also an exciting time where these students “can shape the future,” she said, and feel the power “of ownership and accountability.”