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“Every vote matters”: League of Women Voters of the Northwoods helps register local high school students to vote

The League of Women Voters of the Northwoods helped register students at Rhinelander High School.
Katie Thoresen
/
WXPR
The League of Women Voters of the Northwoods helped register students at Rhinelander High School.

There’s not a high number of students at Rhinelander High School that will be 18 by the November 5th election.

But as League of Women Voters of Wisconsin President Dorthy Skye says every vote matters.

It’s why Skye and two other members of the Northwoods Chapter spent their Thursday morning walking five RHS students through how to register to vote.

“We see this as a torch passing celebration, passing things to the next generation, and maybe help them realize that, ‘Oh, it's up to me now’. These old ladies obviously aren't going to last forever,” Skye said with a laugh.

Before they registered the students to vote, Skye took them through an exercise to show how few people register to vote and then within those register not everyone votes. This means eligible voters are leaving important issues to someone else.

President elections like the one coming up have the highest voter turnouts. In 2020, nearly 73% of eligible voters cast a ballot in Wisconsin. Primaries, while still consequential, have much lower voter turnout. The 2020 partisan primary in Wisconsin had a 21% voter turnout, according to data from the Wisconsin Elections Commission.

“When people disengage, that means someone else will make the decision for them. Is that what they necessarily want?” asked Jane Banning, President of the League of Women Voters of the Northwoods.

Eighteen-year-olds McKenna Sternitzky and Kaya Hanold say registering to vote was a much easier process than they thought it would be. They were two of the five students to register at Rhinelander High School last week.

“It was actually really easy. I thought it was going to be a lot harder, but definitely do it. It takes like two minutes,” said Sternitzky.

For them, registering to vote in the upcoming presidential election was a matter of personal conviction.

This was their response when asked why they wanted to register to vote.

“I think it's important to stick up for what you believe in and fight for the causes of what you think is right no matter what you believe in,” said Sternitzky.

“I grew up in a pretty political household. I believe that it's very important. I was raised to do my research, look at the facts and have my own opinions on the side as well. Along with McKenna, I believe that you should follow through on what you believe in,” said Hanold.

While this November will be the first time they’re voting in an election, the League hopes it won’t be their last.

League member Debra Durschlag says roughly 40% of high school students don’t go on to secondary education. She’s concerned opportunities like this won’t be as readily available post high school.

“Those are the students who will probably stay here in the Northwoods, and those are the students who will live here. And as Dorothy always says, they're the ones who take on the family businesses, get jobs, open small businesses here,” said Durschlag.

The idea is if they can get people registered young and make sure they have a plan to vote, then they’ll be more likely to keep voting in the future.

“Encourage them to vote just once, because once you do it, it feels good, you get that feeling, and then it establishes a habit,” said Skye.

The League of Women Voters also registered students at Three Lakes High School last week.

They’ll be at Lakeland Union High School Tuesday.

October 16th is the deadline to register online in Wisconsin.

You have until November 1st to register at your clerk’s office. You can also register to vote at your polling place on election day.

You can register to vote on the My Vote Wisconsin website. That’s also where you can check your registration status, find your polling place, and see what’s on your ballot.

Editors note: Jane Banning is a WXPR Board Member. The Board of Directors is responsible for management and operation of White Pine Community Broadcasting Inc and has no influence over programming.

Katie Thoresen is WXPR's News Director/Vice President.
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