The Tigard-Tualatin School Districts’ civics team held a voter registration drive at Tigard High School on Monday, April 11. Now, what exactly is a voter registration drive? The Wolf interviewed Aishiki Nag, Tigard’s Youth City Councilor, on the importance of the drive and what students can expect if they attend a similar event.

“The voter registration drive is simply a really formal title for an event to just help people register and pre-register to vote,” Nag said when questioned about what the drive meant. “The point is to help bring awareness and get more people registered to vote by the May primaries, which is really important considering some students are located in districts that have tight primaries. Tualatin is definitely one of them because Prusak isn’t running again for re-election.”

Rachel Prusak is a Democratic politician and a member of the Oregon House of Representatives, representing District 37. As Nag said, Prusak will not be running again for re-election.

“It’s supposed to bring more attention to local government,” Nag said. “The amount of awareness around local government is dwindling and has historically been really low. Our generation can be the one to change that stereotype with voting numbers. And it all starts small as well, so it’s important to have a platform for students to learn about what they do, as well as walking people through the process of registration.”

The event on April 11 began with introductions and an explanation of the drive and its purpose. Throughout the remainder of the evening, students in attendance heard from a multitude of speakers. They had a chance to ask questions, and at the end of the night, they got a chance to register or pre-register to vote. 

With the TTSD voter registration drive, Nag and others are bringing awareness to the importance of local governments and the impact one student vote can have on their city and even state.