How This High Schooler Registered 91 People to Vote

“This is our world. It is time to be the change that we want to see, the change that we need to see,” says Tymek Jones, an 18-year-old DoSomething member from New Jersey. “The first step in influencing change is by voting...In voting, we can help pass laws and elect officials that support our beliefs.”

That’s why Tymek ran a drive that helped 91 people register to vote. You can too! Run a voter reg drive in-person or online, and get started by using Tymek’s advice from our conversation below.

When did you do your drive?

The voter registration drive took place May 1 and May 2. Following the Parkland school shooting and the National Walkout, I feel as though it is important to keep the momentum going. As youth, our voices do not have to remain silent during silent times. There does not have to be tragedy to influence change.

How long did it take you to set up the entire thing?

Planning the event did not take long and was entirely simple. The NAACP President of the Rahway chapter, my school principal, and I met to discuss the details of the event. The President of the NAACP provided the registration forms and the principal provided the banner as well as MyVoteMyVoice wristbands.

What was something you did that made your drive such a success?

My ability to draw students to the table was an essential part of making the voting drive successful. When walking by many students may not have seen the booth or may not have known what was going on, but my enthusiasm persuaded them to check out what was going on.

If you could give one piece of advice to someone who is running a voter registration booth what would it be?

To anyone who is running a voter registration drive, it is important that your audience knows about the event, and it is crucial that your given audience knows the importance of voting. I feel as though more students would have registered if they only knew how important voting is in our society. Especially this year.

Anything else you'd like to add?

When doing the voter registration drive at your school it is important to have student representatives at the table. The student representatives would be responsible for persuading other students to come to the table and register.

I personally believe exercising the right to vote is extremely important. When looking at history we learn how our ancestors have fought vigorously for the right to vote. In not voting not only are we disrespecting ourselves, but our ancestors as well. By not voting we are saying that our opinion is not important enough to be heard.

DoSomething.org is the largest not-for-profit exclusively for young people and social change. Our digital platform is activating 6 million young people (and counting!) to create offline impact in every US area code and in 131 countries.