2024-09-18 06:05:03
4:54 PM Tuesday, September 17, 2024
Tuesday is National Voter Registration Day. One area group is focusing its efforts on the next generation.
A few of those efforts took place in Robbinsdale Area Schools, with booths in the Cooper and Armstrong High School cafeterias. At Armstrong, Nancy Intermill and her fellow volunteers vied for students’ attention with a booth covered in stickers and treats.
As students stopped by, Intermill asked them if they’re registered to vote. If the students are 16 or older, they’re able to pre-register to vote. Those 18 and over can register on site, too.
“We need to let them know, you know. There’s opportunity for you if you pay attention to what’s going on here,” Intermill said.
Armstrong students crowd around the LWV table in the busy lunch room.
Intermill is the voter services chair of the League of Women Voters of Crystal-New Hope-East Plymouth-Robbinsdale. It’s a nonpartisan group that works to bring more people to the polls.
“If we have people that are registered to vote, they have it in their mindset. That’s democracy,” Intermill said.
The Next Generation
Here at Armstrong is the next generation of voters. Ari White, who just turned 18, is one of them.
“I’m super excited. I definitely have been doing a lot of research on both of our candidates,” Ari said.
She said her parents taught her the importance of voting. Ari hopes her friends also register to vote.
“Voting is a privilege and an awesome right we that we have here in America,” Ari said. “Outside of America, you know, people don’t get the opportunity to have a say in what happens to them and what happens to their communities and their country and stuff like that.”
Robbinsdale Superintendent Teri Staloch stopped by to see the action, too. She said watching the students respond to the booth is exciting.
“We want to empower them to be prepared, so that they know their voice matters,” Staloch said.
The district also participated in the Minnesota Secretary of State’s live virtual event. Students who attend Robbinsdale Academy-Highview and Robbinsdale Virtual Academy could attend.
Voters can also register same-day in Minnesota. For more information about voting, registration and your polling place, Minnesotans can look on the Secretary of State’s website.
One student tells Intermill that she’s planning to vote in the upcoming election.
Armstrong High School
