Additional Reporting by Kaeden Rankin
Oregon City High School’s National Honors Society (NHS) held a voter drive at the school’s College and Career Center throughout the day on April 25 to help a range of students, from sophomores to seniors, to register for the upcoming primaries held on May 21.
NHS members, such as senior Lauren Crumley, note that the stakes are high.
“Students should register as soon as possible, or they won’t be able to vote in the primary,” said Crumley.
When it comes to the registration drive, Crumley said they can help sophomores to seniors, which corresponds to the age range of 16 to 18.
School College & Career Center, Thursday, April 25, 2024.
Cromley helped students throughout the day alongside
Sharron Pittenger to register to vote in the May 21 primary elections. (Ben Springer)
Alongside Crumley, an advisor for the NHS at Oregon City High School, Sharon Pittenger was present at the drive. As far as the impact goes for the voting drive, she said that the voting registration drive “makes sure people’s voices are heard” in the primary.
College & Career Center, Thursday, April 25, 2024. Pittenger serves as an advisor for the National Honors Society’s branch at the school. (Ben Springer)
For the state of Oregon, voters have up until April 30 to register for the primaries. On May 21, the Republican and Democratic parties are holding their presidential primaries and expect to nominate incumbent Joe Biden & former president Donald Trump.
Both candidates face challenges with Biden facing a protest vote over his policy choices on the Israel-Palestine conflict in Gaza. As for Trump, he is currently on trial for hush money payments in New York.
While Trump holds front-runner status, he faces dissent from moderate Republicans & Independents voting for former candidate Nikki Haley, more recently in the Pennsylvania primary where she earned nearly 160,000 votes on April 23.
Alongside voting the nominee for the presidency, the May 21 primaries in Oregon have 6 incumbent representatives on the ballot, all of whom face elections in November for seats at the US House of Representatives.
When it comes to voting across the nation, however, Pittenger said, “18 year-olds to 30 year-olds are historically a group that doesn’t vote as often,”
In 2016 and 2020, the national turnout for voter registration for ages 18-29 were 39% and 50% respectively.
According to her, there aren’t really any obstacles preventing them from voting, due to the state’s unique mail-in ballot system.
For Oregon, Pittenger said that voting has “few restrictions and voters don’t have to wait in line.”
