Why wait until you’re 18 years old to register to vote, when instead you can do it now? If you are 16 or 17 years old, you can pre-register right now to vote, and be automatically registered when you turn 18 years old! According to the California Secretary of State’s High School and Youth Programs Portal, high school students and teenagers ages 16-17 are eligible to pre-register to vote, and can be automatically registered on their 18th birthday. If you register while you are still a minor, you can have plenty of time to prepare in advance for when you are 18 and eligible to vote! To register now, visit https://registertovote.ca.gov/.  Once you have reached the website, click the “Pre-Register to Vote” option, then fill out the online voter registration form.

  According to information from the California Secretary of State, in order to be eligible to pre-register to vote at ages 16-17 you must:

• Not be currently serving time in jail
• Live in the state of California
• Be a citizen of the United States
• Not be found mentally unstable and unable to vote by a court

  If you don’t want to pre-register to vote yet still want to be involved in the voting process, you can apply to volunteer as a student poll worker. As long as you have a minimum of a 2.5 GPA, are a citizen of the United States, and have the permission of your parent or guardian, you can apply to work as a student poll worker and experience what it’s like to vote.

  The process to fill out the online application to pre-register to vote takes only about 5 minutes, and is completely free. Optional items you may want to consider using that may help you out when registering to vote are your social security number and/or your driver’s license.  As the next leaders of the future, it is important for us to take initiative and get involved. Why wait when you can pre-register now?