On July 16, two days before the General Assembly adjourned for the 2007-2008 legislative session, the Senate Education/Public Instruction Committee called for an impromptu meeting on the Senate floor to push through last-minute legislation that would require public high school staff to assist eligible high school seniors in completing voter registration forms.

The only way to shorten the process with time running out in the session was to amend a bill that had already passed the House so the language could be replaced and passed in another form with a different title.

Sen. Doug Berger, D-Guilford, proposed amendments to House Bill 359, “Restore Flexibility to the School Calendar,” that had passed last year. During the committee meeting, the bill became “Promote Voting by High School Students,” which was placed on the Senate calendar for the next day.

In this version of the bill, all public high schools would be required to make voter registration forms available to all students, not just those eligible to vote, and schools would have to make available at all times a sufficient supply of forms.

In addition, the bill would mandate that the State Board of Education modify the high school social curriculum to require “instruction in civic and citizenship education.” As part of that requirement, students would be instructed in voter eligibility requirements and how to complete the voter registration form.

The State Board of Education would also “be strongly encouraged” to have students “write to a local, State, or federal elected official about an issue that is important to them” and be instructed on “the importance of voting and otherwise participating in the democratic process.”

Local boards of education would become responsible for distributing the voter registration forms “in a timely manner prior to the voter registration deadline for each primary and general election to all enrolled students 17 years of age and older” and to “submit completed forms on the student applicant’s behalf to the county board of elections” prior to any election.

Concern Grows

Before the bill was brought up in the Senate the next day, Berger had proposed five more amendments. One amendment eliminated the language that only school staff who volunteered would be designated to assist students in completing the voter registrations. Instead, high schools would have to appoint a faculty member. Another amendment would mandate that the State Board of Elections develop training materials for these faculty.

Among the education lobbyists just learning about the bill were Leanne Winner, director of governmental relations for the North Carolina School Boards Association; Susan Harrison, senior administrator with the Wake County Public School System; and Jim Stegall, of the Union County Board of Education.

Winner said she and others raised serious concerns about potential liability issues. For example, because school staff would collect and transmit completed voter registration forms to local boards of elections, would the school be liable if some forms got misplaced or lost?

“By having teachers pass out the forms and asking students who would be 18 years old by the November election to complete the form, both teachers and students could be placed in an untenable position,” Winner said. “Would the teacher have to verify the information on the forms? If students are illegal immigrants, would teachers be helping students commit a felony?”

Both Winner and Harrison said that students often view teachers and other school officials as persons of authority, so students might feel pressured to fill out the forms.

As Speaker Pro Tem Marc Basnight, D-Manteo, prepared to bring the bill up for vote, Berger and his staff hurriedly wrote out two amendments on slips of paper, which were then passed to the clerk.

Observers characterized the process as sloppy. Sen. Jerry Tillman, R-Montgomery, said Senate leaders reminded lawmakers of the importance of being prepared and having drafts available to avoid everyone having to wait. The bill passed the Senate in its amended form, and it was sent back to House and placed on the calendar for July 18.

At that point Rep. Bill Faison, D-Caswell, took charge. The House failed to pass the Senate’s version and appointed a conference committee to hammer out a compromise.

Reps. Paul Stam, R-Wake, said he told House Democratic leaders, including Reps. Marvin Lucas, D-Cumberland, and Douglas Yongue, D-Hoke, that he opposed the bill. “They were opposed, too,” said Stam, citing concerns over possible coercion, lack of secrecy in the registration process, and school liability.

“High school students worried about good grades might comply with registration to keep from making waves. By collecting the forms, teachers might know how students registered, thus eliminating secrecy. Person A gives the forms to Person B and then to Person C and some forms never make it to the board of elections. Students go to vote and they’re not registered,” Stam said.

Winner said every high school already has registration forms available in a central location. Key clubs and other school clubs often register eligible students, so, “I don’t understand the point,” Winner said. “Why require schools to report data on the number of forms distributed and the number completed?”

Harrison said she and others tried to work with Berger and Faison so schools could implement the bill without it having “unintended consequences, but there was no time for debate in the committee or to solicit input from schools and others.”

“Voter registration in schools is absolutely a good thing. Our state has low voter turnout, usually only 15 to 20 percent, at best,” Faison said.

When asked about concerns over the bill, Faison said, “The lobbyists weren’t just a bit concerned, they went ballistic. They don’t complain about the legislation. They just make up a story about something that might happen. No sane person could find a problem in that bill.”

To illustrate his point, Faison asked, “Schools require students to have a health form, right? Students are required to complete end-of-grade tests and schools must report the data, right? So what’s the difference? It’s just a one-page form written at an eighth-grade level that any student with 12 years of schools can read. What’s the big deal? It takes 10 minutes out of the school day to get it done, and at some point you have 85 percent of students registered so they can participate in our democracy. That’s a good thing.”

“They do such good things for schools, but the school board crowd should be embarrassed for opposing this,” Faison said.

Berger’s purpose in this bill was to increase the number of students registered to vote. “I think requiring schools to instruct kids in voting and having schools help with registration is the most American act. It’s the best way to teach students American democratic values, and schools used to do this.”

Rep. Harold Brubaker, R-Randolph, agreed with the spirit of the bill, but not with the process or some of the requirements. Although he was not involved in the bill, Brubaker said that Newt Gingrich supports the notion of schools helping register students to vote. “Motor voter registration was opposed by conservatives and Republicans, but it helped, and I believe conservatives and Republicans would benefit from schools helping students register,” Brubaker said.

After the committee meeting concluded, education lobbyists were told that the committee had approved a version with the mandatory participation of school staff intact. However, when the bill was called up during the House session, Faison said they would make only a small correction to the licensing requirements for speech pathologists, one of the amendments the Senate had attached.

When asked why all the voter registration amendments were removed, Faison did not give a reason. Asked whether he would reintroduce a similar bill next year, Berger said he would because he believes it would help increase student civic engagement.

Karen McMahan is a contributing editor of Carolina Journal.