Seniors at Prior Lake High School, either currently enrolled in AP American Government or general American Government, have the opportunity to work as Student Election Judges at polling stations throughout Prior Lake and Savage on November 5th, Election Day.

Prior Lake and Savage hope to fill the election official void left after the 2020 presidential election, and American Government teachers at Prior Lake High School hope to introduce their students to local government and community participation.  

The upcoming election, compared to the relatively mundane primary election last March, is expected to be a more hands-on experience for students. This increased involvement will hopefully compel the participants to stay involved in the community. 

“I believe it’s important to help out my community and to experience the election process,” said Bennett Gillespie, an advocate for young voter preregistration and participant.

In the current political environment, many people feel less confident in the election process. This opportunity will allow students to see behind the scenes.

Teachers, city officials, and students alike hope student involvement in this exceedingly close election sparks interest and continued involvement in government processes necessary to democracy. 

Last year’s American Government classes also participated in a similar opportunity for the primary election, and this year’s general election is expected to have a significantly larger turnout. 

Voter turnout for the Prior Lake-Savage primaries in March was around 8%. “I would expect voter turnout in Prior Lake-Savage to be around 75%,” said American Government teacher, Chris Gaudette. 

Student Election Judges will set up polling locations, check in voters, help answer voter questions, and clean up after the election, among other tasks. Students will not work with the voting machines; that task will be left to higher-level officials to ensure election integrity.

Parents may feel concerned for the safety of their children while volunteering as election judges, especially with increased anger and speculation surrounding elections. 

“I’m not concerned for their safety. Threats, things of that nature, tend to come against election officials, not the actual judges working the polling place,” Gaudette said, hopefully quelling any potential concerns.

As part of the learning process, Steve Simon, Minnesota Secretary of State and Minnesota’s chief election official, visited Prior Lake High School on September 27th to talk to government students about the upcoming election. This granted students an opportunity to ask questions about elections in Minnesota.

Simon spoke about the importance of voting and election integrity, hopefully motivating more students to become election judges.