For the first time in history, 16-year-olds were able to vote for the school board in the 2024 Berkeley election, a measure unprecedented in California. 4,500 students were eligible to vote, but only 1,500 actually did, putting the turnout at about 30 percent. This turnout was extremely low and failed to impact the outcome of the race. Considering that Laura Babitt lost her school board seat by only 3,682 votes, the outcome of the race could have been different if the youth vote had been stronger. Berkeley School Board candidates should appeal more to the youth vote by performing outreach at Berkeley High School through advertising targeted at BHS students and in-person appearances at school.
Why didn't more students vote? Kate Springer-Sullivan, a BHS student, explained that she “was too busy (with academics) to research the candidates and then vote”. Many BHS students like Kate didn’t vote because they were very busy with their studies. As the weeks leading up to the election are close to the end of the semester, it is understandable that students are very busy during this time. However, students are the people whom the actions of the school board affect most directly, and if they understood this, they would be more motivated to find the time to vote.
Therefore, in order to mobilize the youth vote, candidates running for Berkeley Unified School District’s School Board need to more effectively communicate to students how their actions would benefit them. Zula Root, a BHS senior, saud that “I voted because I wanted to make an impact for future kids in BUSD and also for who would be making decisions in BUSD for my last semester.” Candidates could put posters up around BHS and hold an event in the CCC (College and Career Center) in which they express how they will take steps to improve the teacher quality at BHS. Another method of reaching out to students would be giving presentations in classes. Political advertising at BHS would certainly convince many students to vote. The core goal of all these activities would be to relay to students that the actions of the school board directly affect them and how they would be best served by a certain candidate.
However, it would also help persuade students to vote if teachers gave students time in class to register to vote in the school board election and fill out their ballots. This is because some students didn’t vote because their studies took up all of their time. For example, Springer-Sullivan said she “didn't want to do extra stuff,” referring to the time required to register to vote.