With a jolt from the Trump effect, Reseda High School students tune in to the vote

The push is on to get 16- and 17-year-olds pre-registered to vote.

That push came to Reseda High School on Monday, where state leaders set in motion Voter Education Week.

The goal? To get young people thinking about what roles they play in who gets elected, so when they’re old enough to vote they’ll be more empowered and engaged enough to do it.

Eighteen- to 25-year-olds are the largest block of voters in the state and yet the smallest in terms of turnout, along with the working class and low-income individuals, according to state officials.

“You deserve a voice for the issues you care about,” California Secretary of State Alex Padilla said during his visit to the Reseda campus.

Padilla was joined by state Sen. Henry Stern, D-Calabasas, to pitch the pre-registration idea to the potential voter pool of about 1,700 juniors and seniors.

“Others are making decisions on your behalf, whether you like it or not … you can have a direct influence,” Padilla said.

The California Education Code designates the last two weeks in September and April as “High School Voter Education Weeks.”

His office rolled out the pre-registration program containing social media resources to spread the word.

Carla Schiller, who has taught U.S. government and economics at Reseda High School since 2001, said she has seen a measurable difference among student attitudes from then and now.

“Today, students don’t like it when they learned that those 18- to 24-years-olds usually have the poorest voting record,” Schiller said. “And, that’s different from 10 to 15 years ago when they didn’t care very much. Since (President Donald) Trump has been elected, there’s more interest in elections and current events than ever before, because of the changes that may or may not affect their lives.”

Schiller cited students’ top concerns as getting a good job, immigration and the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA program, under which undocumented people gave up personal information about their status under assurances they would not be deported. DACA is an Obama-era temporary measure to provide relief from deportation, with a work permit, to people brought into the country illegally before the age of 16 and who meet other criteria. President Trump’s administration has moved to end the program, giving Congress six months to come up with a legislative fix.

“And, no one knows what’s going to happen,” she said.

Schiller said she is encouraged by today’s generation because of its thirst to understand certain political decisions made at the federal level.

“More kids are interested in Federalism’s dualship power between states and Washington, because California has laws on the books that the federal government can’t touch,” she added.

Senior student Rose Griesgraber, 17, said pre-registration is quick and easy. Once a young person is registered, they are more motivated to vote.

Rose said since the 2016 presidential election there’s been more importance placed on state government and its direct influence on her.

“Since people feel they no longer have a voice in the federal government, they want their voice to be heard in state government,” Rose said.

Pedro Perez, 17, said voting will give him a greater control over what happens in the political world and more influence over who is elected.

“The last (presidential) election compelled more people to vote and is a powerful motivation to pre-register,” Pedro said.

Joel Narvaez, 17, said the 2016 presidential election highlighted how important voting can be.

“Everyone was saying, ‘He’s not going to win,’ Joel said, referring to Trump. “That attitude doesn’t get us anywhere as much as voting does.”