Mollis Visits WHS To Discuss Importance Of Voting

Secretary of State A. Ralph Mollis visited the to speak to students on the importance of registering to vote this morning, while presenting the original 1920 documents granting Rhode Island women the right to vote, along with Hillary Clinton’s state presidential primary declaration.

About 300 juniors and seniors attended the assembly.

Mollis presented the historical documents to students as a “tool to inspire kids” to vote, said Chris Barnett, communications director for the secretary of state.  “The visit to schools is to inspire students to work in the community.”

Barnett said voting is the first step in getting involved in the community.
“People working together can achieve goals that seem impossible,” Barnett said.

Amongst the documents presented to students was the original 1920 document, which is the main purpose of Mollis’ visit to the schools throughout the state: marking the 91st anniversary of Rhode Island women's right to vote.

The 1920 document was the official manuscript granting the right to women in the state and Mollis emphasized the importance of marking the 91st anniversary of the day a woman actually went out and voted lawfully and legally.

The theme of Mollis‘s visit is, “You can change anything.”

“If there’s something you don’t like, you can change it,” he told students.

Mollis went on to explain that wanting and being able to make a change in something he didn’t like was the main reason he ran for political office. “I wasn’t any different from you,” Mollis said to the students.

He said that votes help to hire and elect officials.

“Eighteen to twenty-four year olds have the smallest percentage,” Mollis said, referring to the population of people who vote in that age group.  “The more people involved, the better.”

Mollis, who has three children falling inside the age group, said the greatest part of his job as the secretary of state is visiting schools to talk about the importance of voting.

A question and answer session with the students followed the speech.  Each student was handed a voting registration form, to be submitted at the end of the speech.

Some of the students found the visit to be very informative and useful.  One student Sean Lenoine, a senior, said he was surprised to learn that less than half of people, ages 18 to 24, registered to vote. 

A junior, Derek Smith, said the assembly  “covered some really good points,” and found it very interesting.  Smith, who recently registered to vote among many students attending the event, said, “I think it was worth it.”

Tina Silva, the history instructional leader K-12 in the district, said it was a great way for the students to learn their roles in society as citizens and the importance of voting.

“We have people speaking to kids beyond ourselves,“ she said.

Voter registration drives will be held at schools throughout the state for students who eligible to vote during the 2012 elections.