Success Story: Washington

Washington State’s comprehensive efforts to support youth civic engagement recognize the power of youth mobilization, the importance of genuine youth voice in policymaking and the significance of quality civic education. Washington’s voter-friendly policies made it the highest-scoring state on Rock the Vote’s Voting System Scorecard , a national benchmark that measures state laws and policies in three key areas (voter registration, casting a ballot and young voter preparation) and evaluates states’ implementation of policies that increase access to the political process.

• In 2007, the Washington State Legislature authorized online voter registration and the Department of Licensing (DOL) decided to implement an online fully paperless system for collecting and forwarding voter registrations at DMVs.   Since this shift, voter registrations at DMVs increased from 27 percent of all registrations in 2008 to 70 percent of all registrations in 2009.  Over 200,000 online transactions (registrations, address updates, etc.) were conducted in 2008, and 18- to 24-year-olds submitted nearly one in three of these transactions. [1]  
• In 2005, legislation  created the Washington Legislative Youth Advisory Council (LYAC) ; a second bill was passed in 2007 to extend LYAC through 2009, and SSB 5229 was passed in 2010 to established LYAC indefinitely.  Comprised of 22 members ages 14 to 18 who served two-year terms, LYAC advises the legislature on proposed and pending legislation, including state budget expenditures and youth policy, and conducts an annual seminar for legislators.  The Council polls students across the state to identify its legislative priorities for the coming year; in 2010, LYAC’s legislative priorities were barriers to education (including gang violence, issues related to school health and dropout prevention, intervention and reengagement), internet safety and environmental concerns.  In 2009, LYAC hosted a Civic Engagement Forum , which brought young people from dropout prevention and school health programs to advise LYAC, provided training in leadership skills and organized an advocacy day during which youth visited legislative offices.
• The Washington State Legislature offers several civic education resources and opportunities targeted to young children, teens and college students.  Sponsored by the Office of the Secretary of State, an annual Mock Election serves as a non-partisan educational tool for students grades K-12, and thousands of students participate each year. Just 4 You is a portal of civics education resources and event and voter registration information for kids, and the College Civics Ambassador Program engages college students in organizing campus voter registration drives and civic education events.
• The state legislature also offers multiple resources and trainings for civic teachers. The Legislative Scholar Program provides social studies, history, government and civics teachers from across the state an opportunity to learn first-hand about the state legislative process and the ways in which the Legislature and the state Supreme Court interact. The program equips teachers with valuable resources and ideas to more effectively teach civics in their classrooms. State legislators participate in the Legislators Back to School , a national civics program that brings state legislators into classrooms to talk about the legislature and educate students on the legislative process and political careers. The legislature also hosts Civic Education Day , during which civic education-related organizations display tables offering civic education resources for educators and the public, breakout sessions offer hands-on learning opportunities, and a private luncheon is held to honor the Civic Educator of the Year.
• Engaged: Students Becoming Citizens is an ongoing civic education series presented by TVW, Washington’s public affairs television network. The series shows students across Washington State learning about and participating in politics and government.  In addition, the Office of the Secretary of State offers several other videos about voting and elections .