Education of young voters “My vote counts too!”
The State Electoral Commission of the Republic of Croatia (SEC) has started the project “My vote counts too!” (in Croatian: “I moj glas je bitan!”) as part of its Strategic plan and its task of educating general public on voting rights back in 2018.
The project continued ever since, aiming at high school graduates who are about to turn 18 and become first time voters at elections ahead in a given year.
For that purpose, a special lecture is prepared for online or offline presentation in schools, as well as related webinar, published at the SEC web page in order to increase the reach. The content of the lecture and webinar varies during the years in order to reflect the elections ahead.
In the school year 2022/2023 and school year 203/2024 lecture and webinar covered current elections in Croatia - parliamentary and European elections (held in April and June 2024) as well as presidential elections (planned for December 2024).
More than 5240 students from different high schools all around Croatia attended lectures, which were held by SEC representatives and which purpose was to introduce these first-time voters to basic electoral terms as well as electoral and voting process, so they can learn how to participate in the elections actively: as voters, as candidates, as members of the election committees, as well as observers. To make the lectures more interesting for the students, a polling station was staged in the classroom and students took the role of voters, members of the election committees and observers.
As the aim of the project is to encourage students as young voters to acquaint themselves with their voting rights and to vote as first-time voters, it should be mentioned that over 90% of the students, who filled out related survey after attending lectures throughout this school year, founds these election lectures useful. Survey also revealed that students show interest in elections, while about 84% of them stated that they will participate in the elections and even 70% of them thinks that their vote counts!
The project “My vote counts too!” should be continued the way previously described in the upcoming school year 2024/2025 regarding the upcoming presidential and local elections.
Short information about the project, the corresponding webinar, short quiz and survey will be again available in Croatian starting September 2024 at the SEC web page www.izbori.hr. Further information can be obtained at dip@izbori.hr.
The project continued ever since, aiming at high school graduates who are about to turn 18 and become first time voters at elections ahead in a given year.
For that purpose, a special lecture is prepared for online or offline presentation in schools, as well as related webinar, published at the SEC web page in order to increase the reach. The content of the lecture and webinar varies during the years in order to reflect the elections ahead.
In the school year 2022/2023 and school year 203/2024 lecture and webinar covered current elections in Croatia - parliamentary and European elections (held in April and June 2024) as well as presidential elections (planned for December 2024).
More than 5240 students from different high schools all around Croatia attended lectures, which were held by SEC representatives and which purpose was to introduce these first-time voters to basic electoral terms as well as electoral and voting process, so they can learn how to participate in the elections actively: as voters, as candidates, as members of the election committees, as well as observers. To make the lectures more interesting for the students, a polling station was staged in the classroom and students took the role of voters, members of the election committees and observers.
As the aim of the project is to encourage students as young voters to acquaint themselves with their voting rights and to vote as first-time voters, it should be mentioned that over 90% of the students, who filled out related survey after attending lectures throughout this school year, founds these election lectures useful. Survey also revealed that students show interest in elections, while about 84% of them stated that they will participate in the elections and even 70% of them thinks that their vote counts!
The project “My vote counts too!” should be continued the way previously described in the upcoming school year 2024/2025 regarding the upcoming presidential and local elections.
Short information about the project, the corresponding webinar, short quiz and survey will be again available in Croatian starting September 2024 at the SEC web page www.izbori.hr. Further information can be obtained at dip@izbori.hr.