About 30 Lebanon High School juniors and seniors will see democracy in action Tuesday, April 23, as poll workers at 15 Lebanon City precincts during the 2024 primary Election Day.
The initiative was first crafted by retired civics teacher Terri Johnston and is now administered by Lebanon High School civics teacher Keith Rolon, who noted this is not an official school project but one that comes with the district’s blessing.
“We have way more students than we have in the past,” said Rolon. “It was nine or ten before, but we were given the full blessing of the district and (county elections director) Sean (Drasher) who said let’s get the kids out there and experience elections one way or the other.”
Student desire to participate in this exercise for this election was incredible, according to Rolon. Just like all other poll workers at the county’s 60 precincts, the students will be compensated for the time they work the polls.
“I probably had 75 students reach out to me, so I tried to be as selective as possible,” he said. “We wanted as many bilingual students as possible, but at the same time, I vetted the students while still wanting to give all students this opportunity. I will ask a teacher if it is a student I don’t know, whether they want that student to represent them or not.
“On paper, the school has nothing to do with this. This is not a Lebanon High School-sponsored event. The administration gives you guys the blessing to work for the county for the day. I am the bridge to make this happen. I don’t get paid by the school or county to do this. I do this because of my belief in civics,” Rolon said to his students during a LebTown interview with them.
Rolon had various motivations for wanting to make this experience a reality for LHS students. Besides elections, the high school’s civics course also focuses on the U.S. Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and cases brought before the Supreme Court, among other topics.
“The current rhetoric in politics is that elections are not fair, you see that a lot that they are not fair, that they are rigged,” he said. “As future voters, by going there and seeing an election happen, participating in it, working in it, and doing whatever the poll judge has you do, you will see what’s happening and that elections are fair. I can tell you that in the classroom, but for me, experience is the best teacher.”
LebTown interviewed six LHS students for this story. All said they were excited to get a bird’s-eye view of democracy at work.
“My dad is very political and so I thought I would like to try out (elections) before I am able to vote because I am turning 18 in November,” said junior Amy Liriano. “I want to see how the election process actually works so that when I get in there I am not lost, I know what to do and I have a bit of experience.”
Junior Noah Bossler said he’s been interested in politics since he was in the eighth grade.
“What prompted me to do this is that I’ve always been a big fan of government, and ever since I was in the eighth grade I’ve been interested, especially in the structure of government, how it works and the two-party system,” said Bossler. “Like Amy said, I want to get a hand on the reins and see what it is like and to help out people.”
Alex Rivera, a senior who turns 18 in May, is looking forward to learning more about elections while working the polls.
“I want to see what it’s like to vote, what goes on during an election and have that experience,” he said.
None of the students are 18 yet, so they won’t be able to vote in the April primary. Three of them, however, will be of legal voting age come November. Rolon noted that the law allows youths who are turning 18 at least four to six weeks prior to the November election to vote if they register as soon as they turn 18.
Senior Lina Zheng said she’s not sure she’ll vote in the November election, to which Rolon responded that he wasn’t very happy about that news.
“That’s your role in democracy, it’s your power, it’s your voice, and I would recommend that you get everyone in your life that’s old enough to vote, registered,” said Rolon. “My parents first voted because I took them and got them registered. I literally picked them up, got them in the car and said you are going to vote. You don’t have a choice. As a child, I said we’re going to vote and we’re going to make this a family tradition.”
Senior Ana Hawryluk said she understands why people her age are skeptical about voting even if she doesn’t totally agree with that sentiment.
“I understand a lot of that, but I feel it is very important to vote,” said Hawryluk. “Even if you’re not a fan of the people you are voting for, I think it is important to vote for the person you feel is marginally better than the other candidate. If someone seems better than the alternative, you should use your power to vote since it’s a very important thing. If we lose this as a society, that’s a big deal.”
While none are interested in majoring in political science in college, several are interested in pursuing a minor degree after they graduate from high school.
‘I plan to go to school for music education but I want to minor in political science or history if I can,” said Bossler. “My goal is to teach after college and I want to take that teaching to become either a school board member or on a board of school directors.”
LHS senior Dimaris Rivera Colōn and Alex Rivera also said they both plan to minor in politics in college.
“I am going to college for health science but after that I am going to the state police academy and I do want to minor in political science like Noah,” said Rivera. “I do want to also volunteer to work the polls because I do want to see more people my age voting, letting their voice out there. Maybe if they see someone their age doing the polls and such, maybe they’ll be inclined to go (vote).”
“At first I did want to go for political science, but then I found out that maybe I can go for social work, which is something that’s important to me, But I do want to minor in political science because I want to gain that knowledge,” said Colōn. “I do think that it is a great thing to go for anything that has to do with society because you are being someone’s voice. … I believe that social work and politics go hand-in-hand.”
Bossler was in agreement with his classmates about people excercising their voice via elections.
“I want to let people know that they have a voice and that they can find someone who represents their voice to speak for them,” he said. “I think that it is important for us as American citizens, especially as a young generation, that we have such a power to control our own lives as far as government goes and the laws that we abide by and that we have the power to change what we don’t like or change things that are hurting other people. Let them know they hold the power in the palm of their hands. Go and use it and take advantage of it.”
Although Rolon knows that many of his students are unable to vote due to their age, he said he emphasizes in his classroom the importance of young adults being election advocates.
“What I emphasize in class is that, yeah, you can’t vote, but you can be an advocate for those in your life that can,” he said. “If that means you are teaching your parents or your grandparents how to register to vote, you help them register to vote, you help them figure out their location and you advocate for them to go vote that day, you have the power of advocacy as high school students for those people who are in your lives.”
While Rolon is satisfied that numerous LHS students will assist in the political process and do their part to promote democracy by being poll workers, he believes more should be done, especially outside city limits.
“That has been brought up, I think a discussion has been had about making this more formal,” said Rolon. “I live in North Lebanon Township and I’ve seen young people working there, but I think that it is close friends or family members making that happen instead of schools facilitating that happening.”
He believes there should be a concerted effort to provide all Lebanon County high school students the opportunity to experience elections firsthand as a poll worker.
“I think it would be a great idea in the future to have a countywide discussion with civics teachers or representatives at the districts and have a huge pool of students, a consortium of students who are all working,” said Rolon. “If we had a 100 across the county working from the school districts, I think that would be a great idea and I think that is something the county commissioners would support as well.”
Lebanon County Commissioners serve as election board directors except in years when municipal elections are held.
All 60 Lebanon County precincts will be open from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m. today as will the county’s voter registration office and its satellite office to collect mail ballots. All mail ballots must be in the hands of election officials when the polls close at 8 p.m.
Read More: Okay, it’s too late to mail in your ballots, so how can you get them in on time?
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