High school students across Boulder County are being encouraged to register or pre-register to vote this week as part of the sixth annual High School Student Voter Registration Awareness Week, an initiative led by the Boulder County Clerk and Recorder’s Office in partnership with Boulder Valley School District (BVSD) and St. Vrain Valley School District (SVVSD).
The effort, which runs from April 7 to 11, aims to increase civic engagement by making the registration process more accessible to students. For the first time this year, Colorado teens as young as 15 are now eligible to pre-register.
“This effort started in Boulder County in 2020, but now we see other counties across the state implementing High School Student Voter Registration Awareness Week,” said Boulder County Clerk and Recorder Molly Fitzpatrick. “That was always the vision.”
In addition to Adams, Arapahoe, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas, and Jefferson Counties joining the awareness week for the first time, Boulder County’s long-running partnership with local schools continues to evolve. Schools are encouraged to set up voter registration events, post educational materials, and host classroom presentations or assemblies where students learn about the voting process.
To support and encourage students directly, Boulder County Elections will host an After Class Training for high school students this Thursday, April 10, from 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. at the Boulder County Clerk’s main office in Boulder. The event is open to any interested high schooler, with snacks provided. Students can register using this form or email [email protected] with questions.
As a result of initiatives like this, Boulder County has not only seen higher youth participation rates than the state average, but also national recognition. In 2020, the county earned a U.S. Election Assistance Commission Clearinghouse Award for innovation in elections, after achieving a 61 percent turnout among eligible 17 year olds in the March presidential primary — nearly 20 percentage points above the state average.
“Student Voter Registration Awareness Week offers our teachers and staff a valuable opportunity to highlight the significance of voter registration and educate students about the voting process,” said Kahle Charles, SVVSD assistant superintendent of assessment, curriculum, and instruction. “Now more than ever, civic engagement is essential, and our collaboration with Boulder County Elections provides the resources necessary to support and empower our youth.”
Nicole Rajpal, President of the BVSD Board of Education, said the week helps demystify the voting process for students before they leave high school.
“Voting for the first time can be daunting, especially if you’ve left home and don’t know where to start,” Rajpal said. “I love the idea that local election offices are helping with the process, equipping a staff member at each school on how to help our students with the registration process. Getting our students registered now and explaining the process of how mail ballot voting works in Colorado means they will feel ready and more likely to vote when they turn 18.”
Fitzpatrick added that one of the program’s goals is to make the elections office a trusted source of information for young people.
“At the end of the day, the biggest metric for success is ‘do young people feel comfortable engaging with our office?’” she said. “Do they believe that we are going to support them in the voting process, that we are an ally to them?”
Beyond registration, some students go a step further and become student election judges, gaining hands-on experience by staffing local vote centers. In 2024, nearly every vote center in Boulder County included at least one student judge.
Since 2021, the awareness week has been held in April to better equip graduating seniors with the tools they need before heading off to college or moving away from home. The Clerk’s Office provides each school with voter education posters and trains designated staff members on how to assist students with voter registration.
“The earlier we can engage young people, the more likely they are to vote when the time comes,” Fitzpatrick said.
For more information and access to voter registration resources for students and schools, visit https://boco.org/HSRegInfo.
