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The voter registration drive at Newark’s School of Data Science and Information Technology had pizza, a DJ blasting music throughout the school’s gym, and a surprise appearance by award-winning rapper and recording artist A Boogie With da Hoodie.
It also included elected officials – from New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy to Newark Mayor Ras Baraka – encouraging the city’s 16- and 17-year-olds to register to vote and students excited about participating in a school board election for the time.
What the Tuesday event didn’t have was information about the 11 candidates running for a spot on the Newark Board of Education.
Kaiden Gigante, a 16-year-old junior at Data Science, said it was easy to register during the voter registration event. But when it comes to knowing who to vote for, Gigante said he has to read up on the candidates.
“I don’t know who I’m voting for but I know I am voting,” Gigante said while pointing to his “I got registered to vote” sticker.
His friend Kai Toolsee, also a 16-year-old junior at Data Science, said he hopes his school will have a morning announcement with more information about the candidates running for school board or that his teachers will mention something about it.
“I think we’ll get more information at some point,” Toolsee added.
The event at Data Science was designed to support Newark Public Schools’ efforts to get 16- and 17-year-olds registered to vote ahead of the April 15 school board election. This year, three seats are up for election on the nine-member Board of Education.
“Having 16- and 17-year-olds voting for school board elections is historic,” said Murphy to Data Science students. “It is so historic, Mayor, we want to do this all over the state.”
Lt. Gov. Tahesha Way, First Lady Tammy Murphy, U.S. Rep. LaMonica McIver, Assemblywoman Cleopatra Tucker, and Newark Superintendent Roger León were also at the nonpartisan voter registration drive, with more than 100 students in attendance.
Gov. Murphy also reinforced his support for a bill before a Senate and Assembly committee that would allow 16- and 17-year-olds to vote in local school board elections statewide. Way underscored the historic moment for students by reminding them that the first African American person to vote in a U.S. election was Thomas Mundy from New Jersey in 1870.
“You are now historic, you are special, and you are following in his footsteps,” Way said.
Tuesday’s voter registration drive comes a week before the March 25 deadline to register to vote and less than a month until the school board election. Organizations such as the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice and The Gem Project are working to give young voters an understanding of the school board’s function but are not partnering with Newark Public Schools to host voter registration drives.
The district has said it’s manning its own voter registration efforts and, in a press release on Monday, announced a new partnership with the Victoria Foundation to award three city high schools a cash prize for driving the highest level of student-led civic engagement, such as voter registration drives, assemblies, student-led initiatives, and other nonpartisan civic engagement efforts. León said the goal is to register at least 3,000 students before next week’s deadline.
First place will receive $15,000, second place will receive $12,000, and third place will receive $10,000. The funds can be used for any school-related purpose that supports civic involvement and student growth, according to the district’s press release.
The Newark city council voted last January to become the first city in New Jersey to lower the voting age to 16 for school board elections. That decision has sparked a mix of enthusiasm among young voters and challenges for city leaders and educators tasked with educating the young, first-time voters about the election.
Last month, León said the district launched a Vote 15+ voter registration campaign to get students ready for the election. On Tuesday, Léon said he’s been visiting high schools to discuss the importance of voting and the district also hosted a three-day civics course for high school students. León also said they are working on a new middle school curriculum that incorporates civics learning “to really impress upon our young students the importance of what’s happening right now.”
“It’s not good enough to just register to vote, but it’s extremely important to actually vote. So, we want our young people to influence their classmates across the city schools,” León told Chalkbeat on Tuesday.
Assemblywoman Tucker, one of the sponsors of the bill to allow young adults 16 and up to vote in school board elections statewide, said on Tuesday that she will be visiting polling sites on election day to ensure young people are voting.
Alissa Maynard, a 17-year-old junior at Data Science and one of the students who registered to vote on Tuesday, said she also hasn’t heard anything about the candidates running for school board but her teachers and principals have been telling students to get registered.
Maynard said she is going to vote because “we need to make sure our voices are heard.”
Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.
