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Student Voter Registration Drive

Since the inaugural Student Voter Registration Drive (SVRD) in 2015, in partnership with the NYC Department of Education, each year the Civic Engagement Commission (CEC) organizes a large-scale, coordinated citywide student voter registration drive through a series of events at schools in all five boroughs as part of Civics Week. 16- and 17-year-olds in New York can pre-register to vote, meaning they are automatically registered voters when they turn 18-years-old, allowing more students to participate in future elections.

Since 2015, the CEC has registered tens of thousands of students in hundreds of classrooms throughout New York City. Between 2018 and 2020, the CEC registered, or pre-registered, nearly 60,000 young voters, and registered 30,000 students in March 2020, right before the COVID-19 lockdown began. In 2022, the CEC's Student Voter Registration Drive efforts resulted in registering 13,760 new voters in schools.

Audio Description: Watch a video of a training on how students can register and pre-register to vote.


Watch our training video above and encourage 16 and 17 year olds in your network to pre-register to vote or by calling the Board of Elections at 866-VOTE-NYC.