Colorado Secretary of State honors two high schools for voter registration efforts

DENVER, Sept. 21, 2016 -- Colorado Secretary of State Wayne Williams and the group Inspire Colorado will recognize Yuma High School on Friday for being one of two schools statewide where 85 percent or more of the senior class registered to vote.

Next week, Eaglecrest High School in Centennial will receive the same honor.

"I first got involved in politics when I was in high school, so I am excited to see the level of participation from these high schools," Secretary Williams said.

Inspire Colorado works with high school juniors and seniors to prepare them for the responsibility of voting as they began to reach eligibility, at age 18. Members do that by registering their fellow students to vote and doing get-out-the-vote efforts for elections.

Colorado lawmakers in 2013 passed a bill that allows young people who turn 16 but will not be 18 by the date of the next election to preregister to vote. The bill makes it a crime to register if the person is not eligible. The latest preregistration figures from the Colorado Secretary of State show 33,345 Colorado teen-agers participating in the program. Of that, 19,101 are unaffiliated, 7,254 are Republican and 6,958 are Democrat. The rest belong to minor parties.

Yuma and Eaglecrest are receiving the Eliza Pickrell Routt Award for Outstanding Voter Registration Efforts during the 2015-2016 school year. The award, in its inaugural year, are named for the first woman to register to vote in Colorado. Eliza Routt was also Colorado's first First Lady.

Yuma High School: 3 p.m. Friday. U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner, a Yuma High graduate, will speak as will other elected officials, including Clerk and Recorder Bev Wenger. Two Yuma High students, Andrea Hermosilla and Navil Babonoyaba, worked with Inspire Colorado to register more than 85 percent of the senior class.

Eaglecrest High School: 8:45 a.m. Sept. 30, at the start of the high school's homecoming rally. Two Eaglecrest High students, Josh Rasp and Kelly Hall, worked with Inspire Colorado to get more than 85 percent of seniors to preregister.

If you are interested in learning more about preregistration or how your school can participate, e-mail Inspire Colorado at info@inspireus-co.org.