Recently Crescenta Valley High School students held a voter registration drive on the school campus. Roan Thibault is a student at the school and group leader of the club Students Demand Action, one of the 10 clubs that organized the drive.

“With the midterm elections coming up, we wanted to ensure that CVHS students knew that they have a voice in their future,” said Thibault of the reason behind the drive. “Whether [students] care about gun violence prevention as I do, immigration, LGBTQ rights, or anything in between, it’s up to us to get out and use our votes. We sought to bring together clubs of all different kinds so that we could engage as many students as possible with the civic process and showcase the collection of issues that are on the ballot every election.”

The drive was the first event of its kind organized as a collaborative effort among the clubs, though individual clubs and the school’s ASB (associated student body) have hosted previous drives.

One of the top priorities of organizers was to register voters along all party lines – not to cater to any one political leaning. Based on the positive response, that message was clearly – and successfully – communicated with 53 students registered during the week.

“We were careful to follow California’s voter registration laws, which stipulate that drives must be nonpartisan,” Thibault said. “Having multiple groups on board helped encourage students of all political affiliations to register. Rather than it simply seeming like a drive was led by a ‘liberal’ club or a ‘conservative’ one, this was truly a drive where everyone could feel welcome.”

The drive was a joint effort among 10 clubs: Students Demand Action, ASB, National Honor Society, Students Stand with Refugees, the Gender-Sexuality Alliance, the Black Lives Matter Club, UNICEF, the Special Olympics club, Environmental Club, and the CV Youth Town Council.

Thibault was also quick to acknowledge the support of school administrators, which ensured the drive went smoothly.

“We’ve never had a weeklong drive or one with so many groups involved,” said Thibault. “Although I’m graduating next year, I hope that our volunteers this year will be able to organize a future registration drive.”