(20-30 minutes)

OBJECTIVE
Students understand the importance of registering to vote.

MATERIALS
Voter Registration Cards handout; Registration Badges handout; lined paper

GET READY

• Copy enough Voter Registration Cards for your students.
• Prepare three Registration Badges – cut them out from the handout. If possible, print them out on colored paper.
• Put two or three tables or desks together at the front of the room.
• For more information, see "Elections" in the Appendix.

INSTRUCTIONS

• Say to your students, Have you ever signed up for swimming lessons or school? If so, you probably had to go in before the first day of class and sign up. Another word for signing up is "registering." Before you can vote you must register to put your name on the list of voters.
• Assign three students to be the registrars for the class. Give each registrar a Registration Badge.
• Give each registrar a stack of Registration Cards and a registration sheet. (The registration sheet could be a piece of lined paper folded down the middle.) Have the registrars sit at the desks/chairs you put together.
• Instruct the students to come to the tables/desks three at a time to fill out their Registration Cards and sign the registration sheets. (Have the students sign their names on the left side of the registration sheet.)
• Each student goes to one registrar who helps them through the registration process, so it is important that the registrars know how the process works.
•  Have the registrars switch roles with students who have already registered so that they have a chance to register.
• Tell your students that you will send the Registration Cards home with them the day before the Kids Voting election so they can take them to the polls.
• Save the registration sheet for the Voting Simulation activity.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

• Why do we register?
• What could happen if people voted without registering?

MORE!
As an alternative to classroom registration, help coordinate a school registration day for both students and parents. Invite a deputy registrar for parents and let students register for the Kids Voting election at the same time.

 
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