MyBallot

About the Program

Category: Civic Education and Public Information (Best in Category)

Year: 2012

A major issue that faces counties every day is encouraging the youth to become involved with politics and the election process. In Orange County, officials realized that virtually none of the youth population is willing to volunteer or participate in electoral events. In fact, the county found that the average age of a polling volunteer was 72 years old. To increase youth participation, Orange County started the MyBallot program which is aimed at high school students aged 14-18. The county directed the Registrar of Voters to conduct educational sessions at local high schools. The educational involvement process takes place during three different sessions. During the first session, staff from the Registrar of Voters office delivers an in-class presentation to the high school’s student leadership (ASB) class. The program’s second step is ballot creation. ASB students are taken on a two or three hour field trip to the Registrar of Voters’ office, where they experience the complexities of conducting elections. Students work with the Department to create their own ballots for an upcoming Homecoming or Student Government election at their school. The field trip introduces students to ballot generation software and provides a behind-the-scenes look at the intricate process in place for conducting an election. The last component puts what the students have learned into practice. The Registrar of Voters brings its mobile voting unit to the school and hosts the school’s election over the course of an entire school day. The Registrar of Voters provides staff to host the events, process student voters, and tally the election results. The Department also uses the events as an outreach opportunity to register students to vote, answer any election questions students might have, and to recruit student poll workers for future elections. There are no additional staffing or equipment costs above labor and material costs already incurred by the Registrar of Voters. By providing historical context for elections and a unique voting experience for students at no charge to schools, this program addresses the need for additional educational opportunities in government, history, and civic engagement in schools in the wake of budget cuts. It also offers schools an opportunity to offer high-quality elections that help develop civic-minded citizens, get students excited about voting, and build morale and school spirit.