BY PAUL SLOTH
Journal Times | Posted: Monday, February 18, 2008 12:00 am
RACINE - Several Racine students were looking forward to voting in their very first election Tuesday in Wisconsin's primary.
The students, some of whom turned 18 late last year, will join the millions of voters in this country who are eligible to vote while they are still in high school.
Sure, many of them will graduate before they cast a vote in the general election in November, but they will play a role, Tuesday, in deciding who will run for president.
It's been 36 years since 18-year-olds first voted in a presidential election.
The historical significance isn't lost on Monique Bryson, a senior at Horlick High School, who will cast a vote in a seemingly historical election.
"This is a great time to be 18," Bryson said. "(Voting) is like a rite of passage." Bryson, who turned 18 in October, said she wanted to hear more from the candidates concerning where they stand on the issues, before she decided who to support.
Voting wasn't always such an important issue, Bryson admitted. She took an Advanced Placement U.S. Government class during her junior year, where she discussed it. She started thinking after she participated in a voter turnout drive last spring.
"After that, I thought, you do need to vote, it is important," Bryson said. "You have the right, you should exercise that right."
Her classmate, Fletcher Kilpatrick, who turned 18 in December, has thought about his right to vote since he was a child.
Kilpatrick said his parents have discussed the importance of staying informed about politics, both national and local, which is why he's excited to finally get a chance to participate, by voting.
"We finally get to do something we've been waiting all our lives to do, which is something we've been doing for hundreds of years," Kilpatrick said.
Unified students have learned the ins and outs of voter registration with the help of their teachers. Several Unified teachers trained with Racine's city clerk to become registrars, so they can help students who are eligible to register to vote.
Most of them are social studies teachers, which, they say, fits nicely with the themes of civic engagement and responsibility that they talk about in class.
"I focus on the role of people in our government," said John Heinisch, a government teacher at Horlick. "We aren't as informed as we used to be. I focus on why it's important."
Heinisch took the voter registration training. It's something the social studies department at Horlick has done for at least the past eight years, said Sue Gabbey, who chairs the department.
Gabbey took over the responsibility - of getting teachers at her school trained - from her predecessor, Jeff Blaga, who is now a district administrator.
Teachers from Park High School also participated in the training at City Hall. The effort is to make it easier for students, who spend most of their time at school, to register to vote.
"There could be a first in this election. The impact these 18-year-olds could have on the outcome, could be potentially historic," Park Principal Dan Thielen said. "You have an opportunity to make history here."
More important than the opportunity to vote in an election some consider historic is the knowledge of the power and responsibility that come with voting.
Brian Casey, a senior at Horlick, looks at voting as more than picking the next president. Like his classmates, Bryson and Kilpatrick, Casey has learned that how he votes will have an effect on a wide range of issues in his life, like what tuition he'll pay for college and how interest rates will effect his student loans.
"Voting affects us in ways people don't realize," said Casey, who is considering a career in law and politics.
Casey, who also turned 18 in October, is also aware of the current state of politics in this country, from shortened political soundbites, to low voter turnout.
"People don't do it (vote) as much as they used to," Casey said. "There's so much responsibility. By voting, you have some of a say in it."
Young voters by the numbers
* There were more than 32 million young residents in the United States in 2006, the majority of whom were male.
* Nationally, 18- to 25-year-olds make up 14 percent of the population of eligible voters in the United States; 18- to 29-year-olds make up 21 percent of the voting eligible population.
* In 2006, there were 70 million 0- to 17-year-old residents, almost as many as the Baby Boomers (77 million).
* In 2004 youth voter turnout was highest in Minnesota (69 percent), Wisconsin (63 percent), Iowa (62 percent), Maine (59 percent), and New Hampshire (58 percent).
n States that allow Election Day registration, on average, have youth voter turnout rates that are 14 percentage points higher, and they are more likely to be contacted by a political candidate.
* Three of the top five states for youth voting in 2000 allowed Election Day registration (Minnesota, Wisconsin, Maine).
Sources: The Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement
The law might change soon
A bill introduced in the Wisconsin State Senate last year would grant 17-year-olds the right to vote in a spring primary election if they turn 18 before the general election in November.
Senate Bill 6 has since stalled in a legislative committee.
Because this bill extends the right to vote to a class of persons beyond what the Wisconsin Constitution allows, if the bill is enacted, it would have to be approved by electors in a statewide referendum during the November 2008 general election.
If the approved by referendum, it would become law on Jan. 1, 2009.
If approved, the change in state law would make Wisconsin one of nearly a dozen states that grant 17-year-olds the right to vote.
Maryland was the most recent state to do so. A state appeals court overturned a ruling that found it unconstitutional to allow 17-year-olds to vote.
26th Amendment
The 26th Amendment, which was signed into law in 1971 by President Richard Nixon, reduced the voting age from 21 to 18. Wisconsin ratified the Amendment on June 22, 1971.