TITLE:  Voting a Privilege Through Registration

AUTHOR:  Donnalee Eisenhaut, Mt. View High School, UT

GRADE LEVEL/SUBJECT:  11-12, government

  One major theme that rings true is that voting is a
privilege; however, this privilege is not possible without
voter registration.  one appropriate quote for lack of
registration is, "The world is run by people who show up."
So true in reference to voting and registration.  Dan Jones
a noted professor from the University of Utah discusses the
poor registration habits of most Americans and the very low
voter turn out of young people between the ages of 18 - 24.
The activity that I use in my classroom is to teach the
importance of voter registration.  The privilege of voting
is not possible without the responsibility of voter
registration.

  The extracurricular activity that I use in my classroom is
to empower my students by teaching them the method of voter
registration and by having them actively register all 18
year olds and 17 year olds that will be 18 within the voting
year.  In order to do this activity I contact the County
Clerk, she comes out on a selected day and with the help of
my students we complete the process.  Parents are delighted
that their students are now ready to play an important role
in the political process.

  It is important that students are taught about voter
registration.

WHAT ARE QUALIFICATIONS FOR REGISTRATION:
  1.  Must be a U.S. citizen
  2.  18 years of age
  3.  Member of District for 30 days (varies from state to
      state)
  4.  Students may register non-partisan (varies from state
      to state)

WHAT ARE FOUR METHODS OF REGISTRATION:
  1.  Mail-in (forms can be obtained for Post Office
      Library)
  2.  Registration Agents (often a neighbor)
  3.  Registration by organization (work, club, etc.)
  4.  Go to county clerk's office

WHY SHOULD A PERSON REGISTER:
  1.  Can't vote or participate in issues of great
      importance
  2.  Give each American power to participate in the
      political process

WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU DON'T REGISTER:
  1.  A person can't participate in the political process
  2.  If a person misses and election they must register
      again in some states, or in the case of moving to a
      new area they must register, in Utah the books are
      purged every four years so voting becomes a must if a
      person doesn't want to register often

Students in the classroom will be asked to help prepare the
student body for voter registration by making posters and
working through rosters to determine who has voted and who
has not.
A quiz is given on the material and evaluation takes place
on the success of the voter registration campaign.