Maryland’s state elections board is launching a contest to help more high school seniors register to vote.
The Maryland State Board of Elections will award high schools where at least 90 percent of eligible seniors are registered to vote by the end of the 2025-2026 school year.
“No high school sports team ever won without participation by every teammate, and democracy is no different,” said state elections board administrator Jared DeMarinis in a statement. “Young Marylanders can shape the future of their country and Maryland at the ballot box only if they register to vote. Our new contest will be a fun and engaging way to ensure that today’s high school seniors win at being empowered and strengthening democracy for decades to come.”
About one-third of Maryland 18-year-olds are not registered to vote, according to a 2024 report conducted as a collaboration among The Civics Center, the Maryland Democracy Initiative, and Center for Democracy and Civic Engagement at the University of Maryland.
In 2010, Maryland began allowing young people to pre-register to vote at age 16. The state also allows 17-year-olds to vote in a primary election if they will be 18 years old on or before the date of that year’s general election.
The report found that while Maryland had made “extraordinary strides” in new voter registration since 2010, the state’s registration rates have “plateaued” and even dropped 2 percentage points since 2019.
More than 78,000 people turn 18 in Maryland every year, but only 64% of the state’s 18-year-olds were registered to vote, according to the report.
This is due, in part, to a national decline in members of Gen Z obtaining driver’s licenses – and therefore fewer youth registering to vote during a visit to the Motor Vehicles Administration – state election officials said in a news release.
Counties with lower percentages of 16- and 17-year-olds with driver’s licenses also had lower percentages voter pre-registration among those age groups.
That’s why state election officials are turning to high schools to help register eligible students to vote.
High schools can contact the Maryland State Board of Elections at info.sbe@maryland.gov for more information on participating in the competition.
Marylanders can also learn how to register to vote by visiting the state elections board’s online application page or by contacting their local board of elections office.
I think another reason many young people do not register to vote is because they have never been engaged in meaningful civics education. As a League Of women voters volunteer at high school registration events, I have had students ask me which party they should register for. Their lack of understanding of our political system is distressing. I think that in addition to having a contest that will encourage young people to register to vote that there needs to be a state wide middle school through high school in initiative to teach civics. Coursework should engage students in activities that will promote experiential learning.