# Plain Language Summary: High School Voter Empowerment Act of 2021

This bill makes it a requirement for every public high school in the country to become an official voter registration location and to actively register eligible students to vote. Currently, high schools can register voters if they want to, but this bill makes it mandatory. Each school would need to hold at least one voter registration drive per school year, with a specific focus on students who are at least 17 years old, are enrolled in American Government or Economics classes, and are eligible to vote. The goal is to make it as easy as possible for teenagers to register before they turn 18 and become eligible voters.

To help schools pay for these registration drives, the federal government would provide grant money through the Department of Education. Schools could apply for reimbursement for the reasonable costs of running these drives, such as materials, staff time, or training. The bill doesn't specify exactly how much money would be available, but it says Congress will appropriate whatever funds are necessary each year. Schools would need to submit applications showing what they spent and how many students they registered.

The bill also includes a small bonus feature: if a high school asks, the local election officials can provide voting machines and equipment for the school to use during student council elections or similar school-based elections. This gives students hands-on experience with actual voting equipment before they cast their first real ballot.

The practical effect is straightforward: teenagers at public high schools would have a built-in opportunity to register to vote during their school day, removing a barrier that sometimes prevents young people from participating in elections. Once the bill takes effect (90 days after being signed into law), schools would have to start conducting these registration drives.

High School Voter Empowerment Act of 2021

Wilson, Frederica S.

High School Voter Empowerment Act of 2021 This bill directs states to designate public high schools as voter-registration agencies and requires public high schools to conduct annual voter-registration drives to register eligible students. The Department of Education must reimburse eligible public high schools for carrying out voter-registration drives.