Staff from Secretary of State Brian Kemp’s office visited Anderson Conference Center in Macon to mark the expansion of the Student Ambassador Program with over 500 students from middle and south Georgia counties. Kemp’s leadership initiative encouraging civic engagement and voter registration among young adults is now comprised of over 1,500 students from 173 high schools statewide.

“The Student Ambassador Program continues to provide a rewarding opportunity for even more high school students across our state to become involved and invested in their communities,” said Secretary Kemp. “We are both excited and encouraged to see so many young citizens ready and willing to develop their potential for leadership, take what they learn in their Government and History classes, and apply it to their schools and towns for the better.”

Following the program’s initiation, electronic voter registration among eighteen-year-olds has more than doubled through the state’s online platform and the free “GA SOS” mobile app for Apple and Android devices. Prior to the program’s pilot year in 2016, only 8,132 young adults registered to vote using the state’s electronic platforms. Electronic voter registration among students seventeen-and-a-half to eighteen years of age doubled since the program was first implemented in 2016.

In January of 2016, Kemp implemented the pilot program with fourteen Georgia high schools and 160 students. Sophomore, juniors, and seniors learn how to register their peers to vote, plan community service events, and engage with their local officials.

Leading up to last year’s presidential election, Student Ambassadors hosted over sixty voter registration drives across Georgia. Last school year, the Ambassadors educated over 15,000 Georgia high school students on the importance of voting and participating in elections.