High school pupils: voter registration.

Plain English Breakdown

The bill does not specify the exact date it will take effect, only that it starts with the 2026-27 school year.

High School Students Can Help Register Voters

This law allows high schools to appoint student voter outreach coordinators and requires certain educational institutions to provide juniors with information on how to preregister and register to vote.

What This Bill Does

• Allows public or private high schools to appoint one or more students as voter outreach coordinators.
• Requires school districts, county boards of education, state special schools, and charter schools serving grade 11 pupils to provide information on how to preregister and register to vote before the end of grade 11.
• Ensures that upon request, educational institutions must inform students or their parents/guardians where they can obtain a paper copy of a voter registration card.
• Authorizes these educational entities to contract with third-party nonprofit organizations experienced in nonpartisan youth civic engagement to implement these requirements.

Who It Names or Affects

• High school administrators and staff
• Students in grade 11 (juniors)
• School districts, county boards of education, state special schools, and charter schools

Terms To Know

Voter outreach coordinator

A student appointed by a high school to help other students register to vote.

State-mandated local program

A program that the state requires local schools or agencies to follow, which may come with financial support from the state.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill does not specify when it will take effect.
• It is unclear how much funding will be provided for these new requirements.

Official Summary Text

SB 316, as amended, Reyes.
High school pupils: voter registration.
(1) Existing law authorizes the administrator of a high school to appoint one or more pupils who are enrolled at that high school to be voter outreach coordinators, as provided.
This bill would specify that the administrator of a public or private high school may appoint one or more pupils who are enrolled at that high school to be voter outreach coordinators, as provided.
(2) Existing law declares the last two full weeks in April and the last two full weeks in September as “high school voter education weeks,” during which time persons authorized by the county elections official are allowed to register students and school personnel on any high school campus, as provided.
Existing law establishes the California
School for the Deaf, Northern California, the California School for the Deaf, Southern California, and the California School for the Blind, known as the state special schools, under the administration of the State Department of Education, as provided.
This bill would, commencing with the 2026–27 school year, require the governing board of a school district, a county board of education, a state special school, and the governing body of a charter school that
serve
serves
pupils in grade 11 to ensure that each of its pupils receives, at least once before the pupil completes grade 11, information on how to properly preregister to vote and register to vote, as provided. The bill would also require
those educational entities
the governing board of a school district, a county board of education, a state special school, and the governing body of a charter school
to ensure that, upon request of a pupil or a pupil’s parent or guardian, information regarding where to acquire a paper copy of a voter registration card is provided to that pupil, such as a referral to the Secretary of State’s internet website. To the extent that this bill would create new duties for local educational agencies or local officials, it would constitute a state-mandated local program. The bill would authorize those educational entities to contract with a third-party nonprofit organization, with demonstrated experience providing nonpartisan youth civic engagement, to implement the requirements of
this provision.
these provisions.
(3) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.

Current Bill Text

Download Bill PDF