BRIDGEPORT, W.Va. — It’s been nearly half a century since Harrison County native U.S. Sen. Jennings Randolph succeeding in pushing legislation through Congress to lower the voting age from 21 to 18.
Now West Virginia Secretary of State Mac Warner is helping to honor the late Senator’s legacy by encouraging young people to take an active role in the political process.
Warner traveled to three high schools in Harrison County Thursday — Bridgeport, Liberty and Lincoln –– to speak with students in an effort to encourage eligible high school students to register to vote.
“Registration is the first step, but then we’re also encouraging people to get involved in campaigns, to work as poll workers, or even to run for office,” he said. “We have a proud legacy of young people being elected to office here in West Virginia.”
For instance, Saira Blair (R-59), became the youngest delegate ever elected in U.S. history upon her 2014 victory. Webster County’s Caleb Hannah is the youngest African American currently in office.
The list continues.
“We have somewhat of a millennial caucus in the West Virginia legislature right now, and that’s what we want to do is encourage these people,” Warner said. “They’re the ones who were raised with these smartphones and are used to all of the latest advances. They’ve got great ideas.”
Warner, whose job also deals a great bit with registration of businesses, said the idea for the next great app and/or company may have been sitting in the auditorium today.
“So I’m encouraging people to get involved in the political process, to get engaged in business, and to keep those ideas here in West Virginia to help our economy. There’s just a lot of good things going on here,” he said.
With each group, Warner delved into election history, voting programs currently in place in the Mountain State, and even the controversy of Russian involvement in recent U.S. elections.
“What they’re seeing, what they’re sensing, what they’re feeling and what’s coming across their Facebook, Twitter, Instagram pages on social media, that’s where this front line of the war is. That’s where this Russian hack is being directed is towards them, so I want them to walk away knowing that’s where the battle is,” he said.
The hope, Warner said, is that by making the nation’s young people aware it’s occurring, they can also be protected against it.
“If they see it, they can quickly identify it and disregard it as fake news or propaganda,” he said. “Hopefully they’ll get involved in the political process themselves, one through voting, but two maybe even running for office and bringing that expertise that they have into our state legislature to make our government function better.”
Seniors Erica Cottrill and Lilah Kimble are among that audience. The Bridgeport High School students registered to vote following Sec. Warner’s presentation.
“I’ve been looking forward to voting for a really long time,” Kimble said.
Unlike many of her classmates, Kimble is not very present on social media. But that hasn’t kept her from seeing and hearing about propaganda tactics.
“I’ve seen my parents see those kinds of things and I’ve definitely heard about them,” she said. “I think that he really emphasized the importance of voting in democracy and how much one vote can affect a democracy — specifically meddling and not how fragile democracy is but how fragile the people’s minds are.”
Cottrill said she’s glad Sec. Warner has taken on this mission.
“I think when certain things are reported on and people just see headlines, it’s hard to know the exact details of what’s actually going on in our democracy and the political system that we have in this country,” she said. “To have the Secretary of State come down and explain what’s really going on with the elections and what we need to be cautious of as citizens and as people who want to be politically active is really helpful to us, and it kind of ensures that as certain generations start to grow up with newer technology that we’ll be able to be aware of what’s actually going on.”
The good news is that West Virginia is tackling the issue head on.
Warner, along with Harrison County Clerk Susan Thomas, attended a training on election security at Harvard University.
“The protocols, the campaign literature — it was a guidebook in the cyber security world. How to keep a campaign safe. It was being done right here by the county clerk here in Harrison County,” Warner said. “It’s kind of neat to think West Virginia’s played this role on the national stage to help cyber security throughout the United States.”
Not only does that mean that West Virginia is prepared for threats that may arise, but the Mountain State is also playing a role in helping to spread the word and provide education.
“In fact we’re hoping next month to take this sort of program on perhaps a Skype session to a number of high schools throughout West Virginia, and then I plan to even take it to the national stage,” Warner said.
This summer, Warner will travel to Santa Fe, New Mexico, with other Secretaries of State and said he plans to share with them our experience in West Virginia.
“A lot of people have heard of it, but I don’t think many have seen it. So that’s what we’re trying to get out so people can then more quickly identify things,” he said.