AP18:144
For Immediate Release
September 25, 2018
Contact:
SOS Press Office
(916) 653-6575
Secretary Padilla Announces 200,000 California 16 and 17 Year Olds have Pre-registered to Vote
SACRAMENTO – To kickoff National Voter Registration Day, California Secretary of State Alex Padilla announced that 209,577 pre-registration transactions have been completed by California 16- and 17-year-olds since the program launched in September 2016. More than 104,000 have turned 18 and are eligible to vote in this November’s election.
Click here to view the total number of pre-registrations by county and political party preference.
“We challenged California’s youth to pre-register to vote and more than 200,000 16 and 17 year olds answered that call,” said Secretary of State Alex Padilla. “In just the last five months alone, the number of pre-registrations doubled in California from 100,000 to more than 200,000. Across the state, young people aren’t just pre-registering, they are also signing up to be poll workers, hosting mock elections on their school campuses, and volunteering on campaigns. These young people represent the next generation of active, informed, and engaged voters.”
Of those who pre-registered since September 2016, 47.46% (99,456) registered with No Party Preference, 34.44% (72,184) pre-registered as Democratic, and 9.59% (20,095) pre-registered as Republican.
Los Angeles County holds the largest share of pre-registrations with a historical total of 53,489. Orange County has the second highest with 18,393 and San Diego the third highest with 14,189.
Earlier this year, Secretary Padilla launched an online high school portal HighSchool.sos.ca.gov to connect California youth with civic engagement opportunities, including pre-registration, organizing a student mock election on their campuses and student poll worker information. The 2018 California Student Mock Election will be held statewide on October 9, 2018.
In 2014, Governor Jerry Brown signed Senate Bill 113 by Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara) which allowed voter pre-registration beginning at age 16 once the California’s statewide voter registration database, VoteCal, was certified. VoteCal was certified in September 2016, and pre-registration was initially only offered through paper forms. In April 2017, Secretary Padilla launched online pre-registration through the state’s voter registration portal RegisterToVote.ca.gov.
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