To date, 20 schools from the San Mateo County area have responded in the affirmative to our call to action for help recruiting students for the upcoming November 4 Presidential General Election. We also have received tremendous response from schools from other areas, like Castilleja School of Palo Alto, whose students reside in San Mateo County.

Mr. Steve Simondi of El Camino High School in South San Francisco indicated that there should be strong showing from his students, with approximately 81 students in the middle of the application process.  At Jefferson High School, presentations conducted by San Mateo County Elections team members resulted in distribution of over 100 applications.

Recruitment for democracyLIVE! will continue through October 3.  Applications are available online at www.shapethefuture.org/democracylive or from high school government/history teachers.  As a reminder, the program is open to any high school student that meets the following eligibility requirements:

1) at least 16 years old on Election Day;
2) a U.S. Citizen;
3) a high school with 2.5 GPA or better;
4) a student or resident of San Mateo County

Students must receive also written approval from their teachers and parents/guardians to participate in this program.

Not a student?  Apply to work in our regular poll worker program!  Click here for more information!

Applications are available online at www.shapethefuture.org/democracylive or from high school government/history teachers.  As a reminder, the program is open to any high school student that meets the following eligibility requirements:

1) at least 16 years old on Election Day;
2) a U.S. Citizen;
3) a high school or college student with 2.5 GPA or better;
4) a student or resident of San Mateo County

Students must receive written approval from their teachers and parents/guardians to participate in this program.

With all the conflicting possibilities happening for students this June, we weren’t really counting on getting as many student poll workers for the June 3 Statewide Direct Primary Election. Only one public high school district in the County would be off for summer by Election Day, and June elections have never had a very high turnout for student poll worker applications in the past.

Thank goodness for the students of the San Mateo Union High School District, and students from Half Moon Bay High School.

As early as the day after notices went out, the fax machine started spitting out applications for the program. Letters came in by the droves indicating student availability. While we may not be anywhere near the numbers we reached for the February 5 Presidential Primary Election, Half Moon Bay High School Government Teacher Shari Baldock achieved what we thought would be improbable for any school this go round; Ms. Baldock sent over 21 student applications.

Add that to the amount of students that applied from high schools like Alma Heights Christian Academy, Aragon, Burlingame, Capuchino, Hillsdale, Mills, San Mateo, and Westmoor, and we’ve got a pretty solid number for June 3.

If you are interested in applying to democracyLIVE!, check out our web page for more information at www.shapethefuture.org/democracylive or come by our booth at Burlingame’s 1st Annual Day on the Green on May 18!

democracyLIVE!, the San Mateo County student poll worker program, is currently in the midst of June 3 Statewide Direct Primary sign-ups. In addition to the Wild 94.9 radio interview we told you about on April 21, our democracyLIVE! Coordinator attended the Pacific Islander Conference at College of San Mateo on May 2 to promote this program.

The 8th Asian Pacific American Heritage Celebration at San Mateo’s Central Park on May 10 featured special performances, arts and crafts, food, demonstrations, raffle prizes, and a number of various vendors and exhibitors as they came together for this free celebration. There, the Elections Office hosted trilingual demonstrations of the eSlate voting equipment.

On May 18, the Elections Office will be hosting a voter registration and democracyLIVE! information booth at the Burlingame “1st Annual Day on the Green” music festival.

The “Day on the Green” festival will be held at the Burlingame High School football stadium from 11:30 a.m. – 7:30 p.m. and is sponsored by Live 105 and the Burlingame Youth Advisory Committee. There’s a $10 admission cost, but proceeds from the event will benefit VH1′s Save the Music Foundation, the Burlingame Youth Scholarship Program, and the Burlingame Youth Advisory Committee. Check out the City of Burlingame web site for more information about this event.

Already a poll worker? Ask a friend or family member to join you!

You have to go to work that day? No problem! Sign up to be a Poll Opening and/or Closing Technician instead. These positions occur before the polls open and after the polls closed, so it shouldn’t interfere with work hours for anyone having to report in between 8 a.m. and 7 p.m.

Aren’t old enough to vote? Become a student poll worker! We are still accepting applications for students over the age of 16, who have at least a 2.5 GPA, and receive school and parent/guardian consent.

For more information about poll worker opportunities, visit our website at http://www.shapethefuture.org/poll_workers/helpwanted.asp or call 650-312-5222. While you’re applying, sign up for training. It’s all available online and over the phone!

San Mateo County’s democracyLIVE! Coordinator sat in with Wild 94.9′s Jon Manuel and Anna Uribe to talk about how high school students can get involved with the elections process by joining the student poll worker program.

If you haven’t read our previous posts, the program was designed to offer students a hands-on experience that provides an inside look at how American democracy works.

To learn more about how to participate in democracyLIVE!, contact our democracyLIVE! Coordinator by sending an email or calling 650-599-1335. You can also visit the Elections website at www.shapethefuture.org/democracylive.

California established the student poll worker program in 1996 in an effort to get high school seniors involved in the community while getting an inside look at democracy in action. In 2006, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger expanded the program by allowing students aged 16 and up with at least a 2.5 grade point average to serve as poll workers.

During the February 3 Presidential Primary Election, almost 500 students from schools throughout the Peninsula area took part in this program. Participation averaged 15 students per school, with a few notable exceptions.

Most notable is Woodside High School, where 33 students took part in the program. Woodside High School has participated in democracyLIVE! since its inception in 2005, and interest in the program has reached an all-time high at this school.

Economics teacher Wendy Porter, who assisted coordination of the program at Woodside High School believes that the heightened participation may be due specifically to the overall interest in the Presidential election cycle, but also believes that there may be an increased awareness of social responsibility.

“When you ask [the students] about it, they’re positive about the connection with the community,” Porter said. “There’s that sense of empowerment of students not just sitting there and waiting for adults to tell them what to do, but helping them.”

The Elections Office opted not to ask schools to support the program for the April 8 Special Congressional Open Primary Election to prevent any issues from arising due to school absences. With all the elections going on this year, it made sense to us to not ask students to partake in an election that would likely get little action at the polls.

With poll worker recruitment just around the corner for the June 3 Statewide Direct Primary Election, we’re going full force with publicity efforts.

Wild 94.9 (KYLD), a Clear Channel radio station in San Francisco, is featuring the program in a special interview being aired on April 20. Our democracyLIVE! Coordinator had the opportunity to sit in with Jon Manuel and Anna Uribe to talk about democracyLIVE! and how students and the community both benefit from this great program. They’re also showing their support of democracyLIVE! by airing special public service announcements throughout the week, encouraging students to sign up for this unique learning experience. Listen to Wild 94.9’s Jon Manuel’s Keyword Community program on April 20 from 7 a.m. to 7:30 a.m. to check out our interview! The Keyword Community program airs every Sunday.

democracyLIVE! can also be found on MySpace and Facebook, which are social networking web sites offering an interactive online experience. By maintaining a democracyLIVE! page on each of these sites, we’re utilizing an online version of word of mouth promotion.

Schools county-wide have already expressed their interest in supporting the democracyLIVE! for its fourth election running. However, because most of the county’s schools will also be in the midst of finals and graduation ceremonies, the turnout is not likely to reach the same heights as February. But support is not limited solely to actually working the polls. What’s important is that people understand what the democracyLIVE! program is about and that students remember its message when voting becomes a reality and the ability to contribute to the community is that much stronger.

Saad Abu-Dagen, a student at Burlingame High School, said of the program:

Working as a student poll worker was an exhilarating experience. It taught me a lot about the voting process and about people in general. I believe this experience will aid me throughout life and this November when I vote in the Presidential Election. When I filled out the paperwork to volunteer, I thought about what I was getting into and I realized that I would be given responsibilities that are dire to this country…I was to be trusted with information I held in my hands and that made me feel important; the fact that I was in charge of a part of a political election makes me wonder what else I could do to help my community/government.