Students Promote the Youth Vote with Voter Registration Drive
Amelia Tejada, Staff Writer
From Monday Sept. 19 to Friday Sept. 23, students at Samo held their own voter registration drive. Under the leadership of Scarlett Tropea-Lester (‘23) the High School Democrats of America (HSDA), went around eleventh and twelfth grade history classrooms, encouraging their peers to pre-register to vote. In their presentations students were instructed on not only how to pre-register to vote, but why pre-registering to vote is so important. According to the Civics Center, Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District has the lowest voter registration rate in Los Angeles County, with only 34% of its students pre-registered to vote. To students at Samo like Drew Sievers (‘25), this statistic is not acceptable.
“Pre-registering to vote is so important because it gives people a voice and more power in local and national elections,,” Sievers (‘25) said.
Tropea-Lester has been a very active member of the political movement throughout her high school career. From leading protests for gun control to holding annual voter registration events, Tropea-Lester has made sure to make her political voice heard. Due to her hard work and advocacy, Tropea-Lester is on her way to becoming the first SMMUSD student to receive the State Seal of Civic Engagement. The State Seal of Civic Engagement recognizes high school students that have acted within the community to demonstrate their civic knowledge. Although this is a great honor, Scarlett claims she didn’t do any of this work for the award because she is most concerned with educating others.
“Some people don’t participate because they don’t see the importance of pre-registering to vote, but I still feel introducing them to the idea of it is vital,” Tropea-Lester said.
Tropea-Lester and her team set up a booth on Sept. 21 during lunch, handing out pre-voter registration forms and pins to Samo students. One student, Tatum Meyer (‘23) was pleased to see that such an event was taking place.
“Voting helps dictate the types of people and beliefs that are present in the government. I have strong political and social beliefs that I want to see represented. Everyone at Samo should pre-register to vote because teenagers need to get involved as it is one way we can demand the change we wish to see within our society,” Meyer said.
Scarlett Tropea-Lester ('23) spearheaded the event and passed out pre-voter / voter registration forms on the I-Quad during lunch