Most Douglas High School seniors registered to vote

A majority of Douglas High School seniors registered to vote during a presentation by county Republicans and Democrats on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Douglas County Republican Chairwoman Maggie Benz said officials from both parties spoke to high school government students about the political process and signed 322 of them up to vote. The senior class at the high school averages 400 students.

Republicans held a slim majority of the students with 123 choosing that path, while 116 signed up as Democrats. There were 67 nonpartisan students, 14 Independent Americans and two members of the Green Party.

Benz, a former classroom teacher, said Democrat Vicki Bates discussed the caucus process with students.

Bates went into detail about the Democrat caucus process, which is different from what Republicans have planned, Benz said.

"We're doing the three-step method, show up, sign up and vote," Benz said. "So I asked the kids if they knew what a precinct was and not one hand went up. So then I asked if they knew what a caucus was and there were a few hands. So that was my starting point right there. I thought it would be good for the kids to understand how people get where they are in these major elections."

Benz said the students were fun to work with.

"They were absolutely delightful to work with," he said. "When we handed out application forms, they thanked us. When we gave them pens and clipboards, they thanked us. They were absolutely wonderful."

Benz said she'd wished that she'd had a chance to have more of a dialogue between the adults and the students.

"I kind of miss that," she said.

Benz said she hopes the students turn out to the caucuses on Jan. 19.

"I was really encouraging the kids to recognize the power they have," she said. "I said 'if you really work at it, you could be at the national convention.' If we had one 18-year-old who wanted to, we could push to get them there."