Welcome To The NC Department of Public Instruction’s

An Information SessionWebinar PPt. Presented by

High School Social Studies Curriculum & Instruction Div.

September 2010

NC Allows 16 –Year Olds To Register To Vote

Areas We Want To Cover In This Information Session

The new legislationWhat the new legislation means for NC public schoolsBriefly walk through the surveyDiscuss the expectations of the district curriculum coordinator’s/specialist’s role in supporting the initiatives of the new legislation Walk through the tools of the website Questions & Answers

NC House Bill 908 Allows 16 –Year Olds To Register To Vote

New legislation in North Carolina (HB 908) allows 16and 17-year-olds to pre-register to vote (effective 1/1/10)– Major goals of this legislation are:

to ensure the participation of more young people in the political processto provide for pre-registration of qualified individuals who are sixteen or seventeen years of ageto expand instruction on the importance of voting in the high school social studies curriculum and to encourage local boards of education to promote registration and preregistration of students

NC House Bill 908 & NC Public High Schools

GS 163-82.23. Voter registration at public high schools“Every public high school shall make available to its students and others who are eligible to register and pre-register to vote the application forms described in G.S. 163-82.3, and shall keep a sufficient supply of the forms so that they are always available. A local board of education may, but is not required to, designate high school employees to assist in completing the forms. Only employees who volunteer for this duty may be designated by boards of education.“

GS 163-82.25. Mandated voter registration drive“The Governor shall proclaim as Citizens Awareness Month the month designated by the State Board of Elections annually. During that month, the State Board of Elections shall initiate a statewide voter registration drive and shall adopt rules under which county boards of elections shall conduct the drives. Each county board of elections shall participate in the statewide voter registration drives and conduct voter registration and pre-registration drives at public high schools in accordance with local board of education policies, school system administrative procedures, and guidelines of the State Board of Elections.”

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What Does NC House Bill 908 Mean For High Schools In NC?

This will be the first year that county boards of elections will be required to conduct voter registration and preregistration drives at public high schools in every county.

High schools should have active partnerships with local boards of elections to hold voter registration and pre-registration drives at the high schools.

Importantly, the NC Association of School Boards has already adopted policy 3640/5130 which says, in part: “the board directs the superintendent or designee to establish any necessary procedures and to cooperate with the local board of elections in conducting voter registration and preregistration drives as part of Citizen Awareness Month as required by G.S. 163-82.25.”

High schools should maintain a designated place within the building where students know they can go to get applications to register and pre-register to vote.

Local boards of education may designate employees (who volunteer) within the high schools or the district to help students with the registration process.

How Does NC House Bill 908 Affect High School Civics and Economics Classes?

Civics and Economics classes in the high schools are expected to continue the instruction on the importance of voting.

The SurveyThe purpose of the survey is to gather

information on the voter registration opportunities being provided for students in the North Carolina public schools.

The survey will be active September 2 – October 8, 2010. After October 8, 2010 the survey will no longer be live. We will post a survey of the summary information.(Please allow 2 weeks for us to compile the survey results, develop a report summarizing the findings and get approval to post.)

Let’s take a moment to briefly go through the survey.http://www.zoomerang.com/Survey/WEB22B3MNKKCPW

Partnering For SupportTo support North Carolina’s new legislation allowing 16 -year-olds to register to vote, the social studies consultants will be working with the following groups to provide support and opportunities that connect young students to the real world voter registration process:

NC Department of Motor VehiclesNC Civic Education ConsortiumKids VotingNC Board of ElectionsDemocracy NCClassroom teachersCurriculum specialists from local school districts

On-Line SupportA website for on-line support has been developed toprovide information on the new legislation, background research relating to the new legislation, related articles, primary resources and organizations that provide lessons and professional development opportunities that may be helpful to teachers.

Here is the link: http://civicmissionofncschools.webs.com/

(Let’s spend a few minutes walking through the website together.)

How To Get To The On-Line Support From The DPI Social Studies Page

Question:How can I get to the website if I cannot remember the web address?

Answer:It is as simple as going to the ncpublicschools.org website and clicking the links until you get to the Social Studies page. Once you are on the NCDPI Social Studies webpage you will find the link you need – “Resources To Help The Civic Mission Of NC Schools: 16-Year-Olds Pre-Registering To Vote in NC”

Remember…

The Governor has proclaimed September 2010 as "Citizens Voter Registration Awareness Month" in North Carolina.

Participation in this statewide effort is mandated by GS 163-82.23 and GS 163-82.25.