Mount Ayr High receives voter recognition

December 02, 2021 at 12:30 pm CST

Mount Ayr High School receives the Carrie Chapmann Catt Award from the Iowa Secretary of State office for registering eligible students to vote. From left are teacher Daniel Showalter, students Payten Lambert, Chloe Sayville, Ringgold County Auditor Amanda Waske and Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate. (Mount Ayr Community H)

Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate awarded Mount Ayr Community High School Wednesday as one of the recipients of the Carrie Chapman Catt Award. The award is based on a school having its eligible students become registered voters.

Pate kicked off the voter registration initiative in September 2019 intended for Iowa high school students. Every school in Iowa that signs up and registers at least 90% of their eligible students to vote will receive the Carrie Chapman Catt Award, named after the Iowan who was a national leader in the women’s suffrage movement. Schools that register 50% and 70% of their eligible students will also receive statewide recognition.

State law allows 17-year-olds to register to vote in Iowa. They can also participate in primary elections if they will be 18 years old in time for the general election.

“A record number of Iowans are registered to vote, and schools across the state have stepped up in a big way the past few years to get students registered,” Secretary Pate said in 2019. “I hope these positive trends will continue. It’s vital that we engage students in the electoral process.”