Lyons Township High School along with the League of Women Voters of the La Grange Area held a voter registration drive for LT students, Thursday, Feb. 11 at NC. Of the 1262 LT students eligible, 734 students registered to vote, or 58.2 percent of eligible students. This percentage is a significant increase from the record previously set by LT and the League of Women Voters in January 2014, when 33.8 percent of eligible students registered to vote.

“I was elated and proud [of the high student turnout],” Paul Houston, Global Studies Division Chair and co-coordinator of the drive, said. “We had cooperation at every level, especially from the League of Women Voters.”

As a result of the high voter turnout, LT was victorious over Hinsdale in the friendly competition between the schools organized by Houston. LT won the competition as they registered a greater percentage of eligible student voters on Feb. 11; Hinsdale Central registered 27 percent of eligible voters that day, compared to LT’s 58.2 percent. However, Hinsdale Central has already done two voter registration drives this school year, Houston said.

A new development this year, having student registrars from LT register student, was an important contributor to the success of the drive, Stephanie Nelson, Voter Services Co-Chair for the League of Women Voters of the La Grange Area, said.

The League of Student Voters, with the help of their LT student liaison, Eamon Bracht ’16, trained 21 LT students to be registrars.

“I wanted to be a registrar because I thought it would be fun and interesting to be an active part of the election and of politics,” Michael Phelan ’16, a student registrar, said.

These students were able to register their peers during passing periods or study halls, which was convenient for students since they did not have to go to the lunch room or library to register. Some student registrars registered over 20 students over the course of the day, Nelson said.

“[Having student registrars] was a new thing and it made a huge difference,” Houston said. “They were incredibly helpful first of all as more bodies. And secondly I suspect some people registered to vote because they new their friends were registrars. Peer influence should not be underestimated.”

Despite the fact that a whopping 734 students were registered to vote in a single day, the voter registration ran smoothly due to the incredible planning and coordination between the League of Woman Voters, Bracht and Houston, Nelson said.

“We are overjoyed with the result and will definitely pursue holding a registrar training again at LTHS,” Nelson said. “I think we have it down to a science.”