As part of an ongoing effort to make voter registration easier and more accessible for young citizens, Project Vote – in coalition with the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey and Fair Elections Legal Network – has provided guidance to New Jersey on whether to adopt regulations requiring school districts to provide voter registration services and a voter education program to students annually.
On January 8, the coalition filed a petition with the New Jersey Department of Education requesting the State Board of Elections adopt specific rules for high school voter registration programs. Such rules are required under a 1985 law that requires both public and private schools to offer eligible students two crucial services: (1) voter registration materials and an opportunity to register to vote; and (2) instruction about “the role of a citizen and the importance of voting.”
In particular, the law requires the Commissioner of Education to “adopt . . . rules and regulations necessary to implement” the law, although no regulations have been adopted to date.
The New Jersey Department of Education responded on March 9, stating that “additional time [was] needed to deliberate about th[e] petition.” The state Dept. of Education wanted to collect data in order to analyze the extent of current compliance with the law that required high schools to provide voter registration forms and education programs. The matter was referred for further deliberation for a period not to exceed 90 days.
On April 19, Project Vote, along with ACLU and FELN, sent a letter to the N.J. Dept. of Education, expressing that although the groups agree with the gathering of data about compliance, there are several other factors to consider in improving compliance.
(1) The coalition of organizations be allowed to assist with designing a survey instrument for testing to ensure that the appropriate information was collected and the correct individuals were targeted;
(2) Independent of any additional surveys or research, current regulatory laws did not provide public and private schools the right to register to vote in compliance with state statute and still needed to be adopted;
(3) Some form of accountability standards still need be implemented to assess on a continuing basis if voter registration forms and education are being offered; and
(4) Since the state has been out of compliance for more than 20 years, a decision should be made with a sense of urgency.
With historically low voter registration and participation rates among young citizens nationwide, states like New Jersey should actively help promote civic education and participation among their youth. To learn more about the composition of the youth electorate and policy recommendations, click here.