YouthVote is a civic engagement initiative that strives to make elections and governance relevant and accountable to young people. The program is made up of three components: The Student Survey, the Mock Election and Student Delegate Elections. Together, students simultaneously learn about the electoral process while providing direct input into current issues.
Work on YouthVote
Interested in working on YouthVote next school year? Click here to let us know a little about yourself!.
Student Delegate
There are two Student Delegates who represent students on the San Francisco's Board of Education. The Student Delegate provides student perspective on all of the critical issues facing schools and casts an advisory vote on each issue before the Board of Education. One Student Delegate is elected through the Spring YouthVote, while the other is appointed by the Student Advisory Council.
Student Survey
The YouthVote Student Survey is administered once each semester to SFUSD High School students, as well as in the Spring to middle school students. The survey, designed with the input of high school students and other youth leaders, is intended to provide students with an opportunity to comment on current and existing polices and issues. Various government agencies, community organizations and school sites use this data to inform their work.
Starting with the results of the Fall 2011 Student Survey, results will be posted with an online, interactive interface. Results from past surveys also exist in both raw data and issue reports. Click on the following links to download reports from previous YouthVote surveys.
New! Interactive Survey Results
Reports by School Year
Expand All | Close AllRaw Data by School Year
Expand All | Close AllMock Elections
YouthVote holds mock elections to at once educate students on elections and civic participation while also providing students (most of who are under 18 years of age) a chance to weigh in on elections. Students are provided with a youth-friendly voter information handbook. In addition, YouthVote occasionally sponsors candidate forums where students can directly address the candidates. The results of the mock election are shared with the media weeks before the actual elections are held, providing voters a chance to hear students' preferences before casting their own vote.
For more information about YouthVote, please contact YouthVote Coordinator Peter Lauterborn at 415-554-3513 or plauterborn@dcyf.org.