You have to be 18 to vote, but you don't have to be that old to become involved in the electoral process.
Speaking to the League of Women Voters Thursday night, John Bierbaum, Normal West teacher and social studies building chair, and a pair of his students recounted their experiences and with having high school students as election judges.
It's not as unusual as you might think.
Bierbaum said that across McLean County, about 50 of the nearly 400 judges are high school students.
Still, some expressed surprise, though Natalia Schmeiser, a senior at Normal West, told WGLT it was good natured. "I got a lot of jokes about it — usually just like 'Can you even vote?' 'Are you even old enough to drive?,' etc. Not a lot of hatred."
Both she and Ayushi Patel, another Normal West senior, told the crowd of about 50 the experience gave them an awareness and appreciation of the process.
"A lot of it seemed very organized," Patel said.
Bierbaum said the program grew from mock elections at the school in conjunction with McLean County Clerk Kathy Michael and the League of Women Voters of McLean County.
"Kathy Michael has been instrumental in just getting kids involved in the election process," he said.
That sparked interest. And the fact that they get paid and time off of school doesn't hurt either.
"It's a long day, but they get paid good money to do it. It's a great experience. They feel part of the process and they become really knowledgeable about it," Bierbaum said.
Along with hearing from high schoolers, Thursday's session at the Bloomington Public Library included engaging college students, featuring speakers from Heartland Community College, Illinois State University and Illinois Wesleyan.
The panel said the perception of college students as "apathetic" when it comes to elections isn't accurate. Rather, they're eager but overwhelmed, and often lacking even basic awareness of processes adults take for granted.
Even the relatively straightforward process of voter registration can seem daunting, said Heartland Service Learning and Civic Engagement Coordinator Karla Huffman.
"It's not as easy as you think it is. It's easy if you have not moved recently. It's easy if you haven't gone from apartment to home, to back. But you try it a couple of times ... and it says you need to call."
And for students, that's a show stopper. "It doesn't happen," Huffman said.
IWU Action Research Center Deborah Halperin said as an instructor, she has students fill out a sheet identifying elected officials from the president down to the most local officials.
It's often difficult. But the last item on the worksheet asks students to share what they've learned with others. That sharing among students is important.
"I'm old enough to be their mom. When I say 'You need to vote,' that's not who they want to hear it from. They want to hear it from their peers."
The panel agreed that sort of sharing is key to engaging students. They also noted local races often seem to focus on straightforward issues that aren't so politically charged.
Katy Strzepek, director of ISU's Center for Civic Engagement, emphasized another element.
"I think the power of a story is really incredible to inspire people to enter into conversation," she said. "We often also talk about how, in local elections, they're won by a few votes. Because sometimes people think their vote doesn't matter and we show them local examples."
Schmeiser, the high school election judge, seemed to summarize those recommendations in recounting her experience.
"Knowing the steps and knowing the care that people have in the safety of your vote makes me feel a lot more confident that my vote actually matters," she said.
