By Cassidy Whaley
Over the years I've come to realize a striking truth: in school, students often spend as much time questioning the relevance of their curriculum as they do actually mastering the material. I certainly did! The pondering begins early on, whether it's grappling with memorizing the unit circle, deciphering alliteration, or deriving functions.
When inquisitive students become graduates, they find themselves navigating adulthood without essential life skills: struggling to file taxes, invest for retirement, and planning to buy or rent a home. Among these essential life skills, a crucial one was glaringly absent in my high school: the act of voting.
When I turned 16, I went to get my driver's learning permit at the DMV in Delaware. The day before, as I indulged in the endless scroll of TikTok videos, I stumbled upon one that sparked my own voter awareness curiosity. In the video, a woman shared her experience of being asked about her political affiliation while updating her license. Initially, this didn't strike me as odd. I had heard that the DMV will ask your political affiliation, and this affiliation will affect how you can vote in Delaware’s closed primaries. But when I checked the comments, I noticed bewilderment from younger individuals. They weren’t sure what closed primaries were, and they weren’t sure whether or not we lived in a closed-primary state. Even when older people tried to explain – in a closed primary, people can only vote for candidates in their registered party – the concept remained elusive to many. Understandably. State voting rules vary quite a bit, and only 12 states hold closed primaries. Did we learn this in school? Definitely not!
That was when I asked myself for the first time: Why aren't we instilling the importance of voting in our youth? Why do we allow the years to slip by without encouraging democratic participation and voice in governance?
My sophomore year of high school, I took AP Government. We learned about America’s three-branches of government, checks and balances, interest groups, and political participation, But we never prepared for the day registration would come; we did not learn about the numbers of people who vote or do not vote in our own state. We didn’t stage mock elections. Learning the laws that protected voting rights was not enough, nor was learning the media’s role in elections. A political participation unit was a step in the right direction, but it failed to integrate hands-on ways of contributing.
When I came to Penn, things were different. People met me with clipboards during move-in. Older students and volunteers littered the green and stopped everyone that passed. They offered to register new voters, or update the registration of those who wished to change their address and vote here in PA, rather than in their home state.
Full disclosure – I did not stop for these people. Largely because I didn’t know if I was able to register here in Pennsylvania. Now in retrospect, I definitely could have asked them. But it wasn’t because they didn’t try!
My hesitancy forced me to wonder again why we aren’t taught these things sooner. Had I been taught how and when to register, I wouldn’t have needed to stop but would have wanted to anyway. The idea of talking about my registration wouldn’t have bothered me; my registration would have already been taken care of.
A couple weeks later, I opened Instagram to a Penn Leads the Vote post about National Voter Registration Day that was coming up on the 19th. After looking at that post and sifting through the Penn Leads the Vote Instagram account, I finally registered. But, pretty quickly, another issue: I knew nothing about the candidates, nothing about which elections were even occurring, nothing about what an electronic ballot even looked like. Now, less hesitant because I was a registered voter, I studied Philadelphia election materials from the Committee of Seventy.
Their “How Philly Works Guide” – explained the rules and roles of city government. The build- your-own-ballot guide listed candidates for each respective election. When I went to vote, I had the ballot I developed right next to me and cast my vote without fear or anxiety.
As a first-time voter, I could have, should have, been better prepared. PA Youth Vote, the high school voter project, and many more organizations here in Philadelphia are helping youth avoid the kind of dismay and confusion I had experienced. But if we could just learn these tools in school, inquisitive students could question what they’re learning less and feel more confident in their ability to navigate – and influence – real life.
Cassidy is a Delaware native currently studying Communication. She channels her energy into politics, writing, and voter engagement. She hopes to reduce polarization and encourage a stronger sense of community through digital media.
ABOUT Committee of Seventy
The Committee of Seventy is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that has promoted, supported, and facilitated government ethics and election integrity for more than a century. We believe that elections should be more free, more fair, more safe and more secure. We want every eligible voter to vote, to be informed when they vote, and to vote with confidence.
For more information, visit www.seventy.org
ABOUT Vote That Jawn
Using the power of youth voice and connection, #VoteThatJawn aims to bring 18-year-olds and other first-time voters to the polls—beginning a process toward full civic engagement—not just for a charismatic candidate, but to advocate for youth safety, agency, and inclusion.
For more information, visit www.votethatjawn.com
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