Last week a couple of colleagues and I were invited into two Civics classes at a local high school to discuss the importance of voting and to register/pre-register interested students who were eligible. Students had to be 16 years old to pre-register or 18 years old to register, United States citizens, mentally competent and California residents not currently serving in a state or federal prison.

My colleagues and I shared our early voting experiences, highlighted the benefits of voting, and stressed that voting is both a privilege and a responsibility. We were pleasantly surprised to discover that students were attentive, asked questions and were eager to register! They were prepared with their California Driver’s License or ID and their social security number. Their teacher had clearly done an excellent job of priming the pump for us. In all, we preregistered/registered nearly 60 students over the course of a couple of hours.

The young women in particular were amazed to learn that until 1920 when the 19th Amendment passed, women could not vote in the United States except in a handful of states. They were further surprised to learn that the amendment passed by a single vote cast by Representative Harry Burn, a conservative from Tennessee. (Don’t think that was a fluke; even today, local elections are often decided by a handful of votes one way or the other.)

While we ended our Civics lesson on that note other important legislation has impacted voting rights. The 24th Amendment outlawing poll taxes was passed in 1962 and upheld by the Supreme Court in 1966. Poll taxes were passed to keep African Americans and low-income white people from voting.

The 1965 Voting Rights Act was enacted to prohibit states from imposing qualifications or practices to deny the right to vote on account of race. It permitted direct federal intervention in the electoral process when necessary.

The 26th Amendment lowered the age to vote from 21 to 18 and was passed in 1971. This change was due to the rise of student activism during the Vietnam War, which was fought primarily by young, 18-year-and-over draftees. Although the slogan, “Old enough to fight, old enough to vote” was initially voiced in 1942, shortly after the draft age was lowered to 18 it didn’t really build momentum until the Vietnam War.

In 1982, Congress passed a law extending the Voting Rights Act for another 25 years. As part of the extension, Congress required states to take steps to make voting more accessible for the elderly and people with disabilities.

1993 Congress passed the National Voter Registration Act in response to historically low rates of voter registration. This law requires states to allow citizens to register to vote when they apply for a driver’s license and to offer mail-in registration. More than 30 million people have completed or updated their voter registrations applications as a result.

Do you still need to register to vote? Register by mail, your registration form must be postmarked Oct. 21. Register in person during early voting from now until Nov. 4, or register in-person at your voting location on Election Day. Register online at https://covr.sos.ca.gov/?language=en-US.

Mary Jeanne Vincent, career expert and strategist, has a coaching practice in Monterey. She may be reached at (831) 657-9151, mjv@careercoachmjv.com, or www.careercoachmonterey.com