Governor's Civic Engagement Award
About the Award
The Governor’s Civic Engagement Award is presented by the Pennsylvania Departments of State and Education. The award celebrates the efforts of Pennsylvania high school students to educate, engage and inform their fellow students about how to get involved in the voting process.
Award Distinctions
Gold Level School Award
This award is presented to schools where 85% of eligible students are registered to vote.
Student ambassadors and the school will receive a plaque and certificates from the Secretary of State at a regional recognition event.
Silver Level School Award
This award is presented to schools where 65% of eligible students are registered to vote.
Student ambassadors and the school will receive a plaque and certificates from the Secretary of State at a regional recognition event.
Student Poll Worker Award
This award is presented to students who participate in a voter registration at their school and serve as a poll worker during the general election.
Individual award recipients will receive special recognition at a regional recognition event
Eligibility
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To be eligible to register to vote, students must be US Citizens and 18 years of age (or 17 years of age and will be 18 on or before the next election).
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To serve as a poll worker, students must be 17 years of age and obtain permission from their principal and parent/guardian to serve as a poll worker.
New This Year: Student Showcase!
Regardless of the number of students registered at your school, the Department of State would like to celebrate your efforts to register students to vote, recruit student poll workers, and get students interested in voting and elections.
Tell us about the fun, creative, and engaging activities you planned! We are interested in learning and sharing about creative approaches to voter registration and poll worker recruitment. For example:
- Did you incorporate lessons about the history of voting rights into your voter registration efforts?
- Did you engage with a student club, student government body or athletic team to help promote voter registration or recruit student poll workers?
- Did you incorporate students' creative and artistic talents to help boost your drive's visibility?
- Did you partner with outside organizations to leverage their knowledge and experience?
- Did you effectively employ technology to streamline your efforts?
- Did you come up with a particularly effective way to track and tabulate voter registration numbers?
- Did you work with county election officials to coordinate your efforts?
The deadline for student showcase submissions is April 1, 2021. Submit your information using the
online student showcase submission form.
Please note that in order for the Department of State to use photo, video or audio of students, we need a signed media consent form from each student (signed by a parent or guardian, unless the student is 18).
Download a media consent form.
How do schools earn a Gold or Silver award?
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Sign up with the PA Department of State.
We are asking all schools to complete the
online registration form if you know that you will hold a registration drive at your school. This way, we can send you important updates about the awards program, and election in general. -
Run Your Voter Registration Drive
Plan and execute a voter registration drive at your school. Make a plan to count the number of registrations collected and calculate the percent of eligible students registered at your school. -
Submit your application for the Governor’s Civic Engagement Award.
At the conclusion of your voter registration drive, submit your application for the Governor’s Civic Engagement Award using our
online form.
The deadline for applications is May 5, 2021.
Are there resources available to help plan a voter registration drive?
- On August 18, 2020, the Department of State is hosting a GCEA Kickoff Webinar. The event will be recorded and posted here for future reference.
- You might consider partnering with a nonpartisan organization to help train students and track registrations.
- You can use this
Quick Guide to get started. The guide covers the basics of what you need to run a high school voter registration drive.
- The PA Department of State provides
pledge cards to help track registrations. You can download and print the pledge cards, or you can request paper cards from the Department of State using a
request form.
- Educators may use the Department of State's voter registration curriculum to integrate the Governor's Civic Engagement Award into classroom activities. The curriculum is also available on the PA Department of Education's
Standards Aligned System.
- If you need paper voter registration applications, request them from the Department of State using a
request form.
How do I calculate the % of eligible students?
The school awards are calculated using the number of students who will be eligible to vote in the spring Pennsylvania primary election.
When calculating the number of eligible students, you may either use the number of students in the senior class as a proxy for the total number of eligible students, or tabulate the number of students who will be eligible to vote on or before the day of the spring primary election (May 18, 2021).
How can I involve students who may not be eligible to vote?
Students who are not eligible to vote in the Pennsylvania primary election can still help organize and run voter registration drives and submit their work to the Student Showcase. They can also help educate their peers about the electoral process. The Department of State also offers The Department of State also offers
pledge cards that students can complete to say that they pledge to vote once they are eligible.
How do students earn the Student Poll Worker Award?
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Contact your county election office.
Contact information is at
www.VotesPA.com/county.
Ask the county election office if they employ high school students as poll workers. If they do, submit the necessary information and application materials to the county. -
Work as a poll worker on election day!
In order to qualify for the award, you must serve as a poll worker on behalf of your county at a polling place in the November 2020 election. -
Educators and county officials submit nomination forms.
Nominations may be submitted by high school educators and county election officials. This year, all nominations must be submitted using our
online form. Please note that we request a photo of the student and a signed consent form allowing us to share the student’s name and image publicly. This will allow us to recognize the student in the press and on our website and social media accounts.
Recognition Events
We will hold recognition events at the conclusion of the schoolyear to celebrate award winners and highlight Student Showcase submissions. If you have registered your school using the
online registration form, we will send you information regarding the dates, times and locations of the recognition events.
If you have questions, contact the Pennsylvania Department of State at 717-787-5280 or
ra-voterreg@pa.gov.
2019-2020 Winners:
Previous Year Winners:
News:
2019/09/24 - Acting Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar celebrated National Voter Registration Day today by participating in a voter registration event and roundtable discussion with students at Carlisle High School.
From Our Blog:
2019/09/17 - The PA Department of State is thrilled to kick off the third year of the Governor's Civic Engagement Award (GCEA) program...