WHS Legislative Council Sponsors Voter Registration Drive

On May 10 and 11 the Legislative Council at Westwood High School sponsored a voter registration drive. “The response was overwhelming,” said Dottie Powers, Westwood Town Clerk. 

Students who will turn 18 by Nov. 6 will be eligible to vote in the upcoming presidential election. The drive was coordinated by Matthew Gee, a senior at Westwood High and a member of the Legislative Council.  “I was pleasantly surprised by how enthusiastic students were,” Matthew said. 

Town Clerk Dottie Powers provided the registration materials, as well as the technical assistance. Powers noted that “Matthew did a terrific job” and “It was great to see the students take an active role in the democratic process.” 

Students who registered were also informed of the process for submitting an absentee ballot in the event they are away at school during election time. 

Chris Lui, Erik Maloney, Noah Ouellette, Steven Harrington and Millicent Jiang, members of the Legislative Council, volunteered to run the registration booth and the drive could not have happened without their assistance. 

The Legislative Council consists of 30 members: 16 students including the president of each class and three other elected representatives; nine elected faculty members; two community members appointed by the principal; two elected support staff members; and the director of the Westwood Youth and Family Services. The Legislative Council meets twice a month during lunch. The meetings are chaired by the elected co-moderators, a faculty member and a student, and are open to all who are interested. The primary function of the legislative council is to propose, consider, and act upon changes to the student handbook or to the constitution. This year was especially busy for the council as an electronic devices policy and beverage policy were debated, and ultimately passed, to amend previous language in the student handbook.