With Election Day just around the corner, young leaders in the state are working to register their peers and get them to the voting booths.
Karissa Hundell, a senior at Buffalo High School and leader for Inspire WV, helped organize buses to shuttle students from each Putnam County high school to the courthouse to participate in early voting.
Inspire WV, an organization that works to improve civic engagement among those aged 18-24, has 25 "inspired schools" in West Virginia. Students can apply to be inspired leaders within their schools to develop leadership and critical thinking skills while improving their community.
Hundell became an inspired leader after her friend convinced her to apply. After she attended the leadership conference, she fell in love with the program.
Thanks to Hundell and other inspired leaders, Buffalo High School will receive the Jennings Randolph award for registering 100 percent of their senior class to vote, one of nine schools to get the award.
Hundell said one of the misconceptions her peers had was that if they register to vote then they're obligated to vote. She encouraged the reluctant students to register with no strings attached, then if they decide they want to vote on election day, they'll be able to do so.
"We're the future, and politics isn't going to be going much of anywhere 20 years down the road if none of us are politically involved in what's going on," Hundell said.
Hundell, who will be attending the nursing program at the University of Charleston, said you don't have to be a career politician to be involved with politics. Simply voting is the best way to get involved.
She worked with her principal and Putnam County Clerk Brian Wood to organize the bus trip to get students to the polls for early voting.
Hundell remembered seeing students make the trip last year, and called Wood to ask him about the initiative.
About 15-20 students from Buffalo High School were able to take the bus trip to the polls. Hundell said some were just excited to get out of class, while others didn't have their licenses yet and genuinely needed a way to get to the polls. All four Putnam County Schools participated with the buses.
Inspire WV is trying to replicate this initiative in other parts of the state, such as Monongalia and Raleigh counties.
"A lot of young people are reluctant to register to vote because it's so new to them," Program Coordinator Kathryn Long said. "We don't really have much of a culture around young people voting."
Program Coordinator Olivia McCuskey said Inspire WV graduates are moving on to inform their college peers about voting.
One of the obstacles young adults face is moving out-of-state or out of their home county, which can be difficult when it becomes time to vote.
Students moving out-of-state for college can either request an absentee ballot from their home state, or re-register to vote in their new state.
Before college, Inspire WV hands out "Pledge to Vote" cards, where students write their name down and the reason why they're voting, as a way to agree to participate in the upcoming election.
Inspire WV saves the cards, and sends them to the participants before the election to remind young people to vote.
"We don't have a positive culture to vote; [we're] really trying to change youth's participation," McCuskey said. "Voting is important and one vote can make a difference. No matter who you vote for, it's important to go out and make your voice heard."
Long said the younger generation of voters are going to be the ones most affected by policies, so they should care. However, candidates are focusing on adults and the elderly for their campaigns because they know they will show up to vote, Long said.
Inspire WV is looking for rising high school juniors and seniors to apply for leadership positions for the upcoming school year. Rising sophomores will also be considered. To find out more information, or to apply for a leadership role, visit www.inspireus-wv.org.
Reach Laura Haight at laura.haight@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-4843 or follow
@laurahaight_ on Twitter.