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Tampa teens register to vote with Parkland on their minds

Determined to make a difference with their vote, hundreds register at registration event at local High School
Credit: Thinkstock
"I voted" sticker

TAMPA, Fla. -- Since the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas Senior High School in Parkland, students have been organizing, protesting and urging lawmakers to change the state’s gun laws or feel their wrath at the voting booth.

On Wednesday, hundreds of students got chance to register to vote and took full advantage of it.

“I’ve been so much more aware of what’s been going on,” said Nya Smith, a senior at King High School in Tampa.

Smith never considered herself to be overly political. But there she was, along with dozens of other teens at King High, registering to vote.

Motivated by fear. By anger. And for many, a sense of obligation.

“I feel like they’re not listening to what we have to say,” said Smith, “And I feel like if we start having an impact in showing that we can vote and like make a difference, then that would be better for us.”

Anshruta Dhanashekar, 17 was preregistering to vote.

“Especially the Parkland shooting,” said Dhanashekar, “Even though there have been school shootings, this is been really close to home for me, so I know some people who go there. So, it’s been very tragic in that sense.”

Roberto Hernandez, a senior planning to join the military, already has a sense of duty to our country. Voting, he said, seems like a natural extension of that.

“I wanted to become more political, more involved, because if you’re not involved, as you can tell, you can see what happens,” said Hernandez.

In Tallahassee this week, several students warned lawmakers they need to start listening to young voters or suffer political consequences.

“I think the government should listen to us. I think there should be some stricter gun laws,” said Josh Keding, a senior registering to vote Wednesday.

“The only way that we can really move forward is to take action with voting. As a majority,” said Tara Sundarral, also a senior - also registering to vote.

The annual voter registration drive is nothing new for Hillsborough County’s Office of Elections. They’ve been doing do it for years, and Wednesday’s voter registration event had been planned for months.

In October, Florida also made it easier for teenagers, or anyone for that matter, to register to vote. You can now do it online by visiting www.registertovoteFlorida.gov.

“Get involved. Get engaged with the community,” Supervisor of Elections Craig Latimer told the teens.

Latimer said his office has yet to see a measurable uptick in the number of young people registering to vote since the Parkland shooting. However, there was plenty of enthusiasm - even from 16- and 17-year-olds - pre-registering at the on-campus event.

“There’s a lot of energy out there right now. We’ll have to see how that translates,” said Latimer.

Ironically, 18 to 25-year-olds make-up the nation’s second-largest block of voters, but in the 2016 election, they had the lowest turnout. The question now is whether the Parkland shootings will turn out to be a talking point - or a turning point - for young voters.

“You know, look at history over the years,” said Latimer, “We’ve seen things that we didn’t think we’re going to become a movement that turned into one.”

“Hopefully lawmakers understand it’s not just one person saying something, but it’s an entire group of people who are wanting some change,” said Dhanashekar. “So, let me try to make that change.”

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