How prepared are Baltimore high schoolers to vote? In many cases, the next generation of Baltimore’s voters struggles to find impactful experiences in electoral affairs, leaving many students unsure how to navigate the complex voting process once they turn 18 years old. 

Since 2022, Baltimore Votes has partnered with the Baltimore City Board of Elections to support students (ages 16 and older) through the application, training, and service as election judges. Election judges, Maryland’s title for poll workers, serve an essential role in managing polling place operations on Election Day, including checking in voters and guiding them through the voting process. To expand its efforts, Baltimore Votes is now offering another outlet for young people to get involved and make a difference in their communities with its new Student Service Learning Ambassadors Program.

Following various reports regarding Baltimore City’s consistent need for more election judges in 2022, Baltimore Votes launched the Student Election Judge Program to tap into a different demographic of potential election judges and promote student civic engagement. In its pilot year, the program successfully recruited 20 interested students and has since expanded dramatically in its scope with the addition of a Student Advisory Board. Collectively, the members of the Student Advisory Board took action within their schools and broader communities—leading voter registration drives, election judge information sessions, and presenting at civic engagement events—to encourage their fellow students to become aware of political opportunities available to them, even if they cannot vote. 

As members of the Student Advisory Board presented these civic engagement outlets to their peers, they noticed a lack of knowledge among their peers regarding their ability to participate in polling places as election judges and register to vote. 

When recalling her initial efforts to inform her peers regarding their ability to serve as election judges, Nadia Robinson, a senior at Baltimore Polytechnic Institute, explained, “I remember sharing student election judge information and the most common response I got from peers was, ‘I’m actually old enough to register to vote?’”

Ultimately, the boards’ efforts led to the recruitment of nearly 100 interested students before the May primary and 150 interested students before the general election. Peyton Tubman, a senior at Western High School and member of the second iteration of the Student Advisory Board, reflected on her experience on the board, stating, “I learned more about the importance of elections, as well as the process, and I was able to educate my peers on topics that they were unfamiliar with.” 

Following the success of efforts in 2024, Baltimore Votes has since hired a cohort of eight interns, including Robinson and Tubman, to enhance the work of last year’s Student Advisory Board and launch a new program to promote civic engagement among every high school in the Baltimore area. 

Baltimore Votes’ Student Service Learning Ambassadors Program will begin in November 2025. This opportunity will enable high school students, particularly those in the ninth and tenth grades, to fulfill their mandated 75-hour service-learning requirement by participating in a range of civic engagement activities within their communities, both in and out of the classroom. Members of this program, called Baltimore Votes Student Ambassadors, will receive training and support while being tasked with hosting voter registration drives, election judge recruitment sessions, and other opportunities to promote political awareness among all voters, particularly their peers. Student Ambassadors will also lead by example, serving as election judges themselves in the May 2026 and November 2026 elections. Ultimately, the Student Service Learning Program strives not only to improve youth civic awareness but also to unlock an array of benefits for the electoral process by having a larger number of students involved as election judges. 

To be eligible for the Student Service Learning Program, students must be 16 or older by May 2026 and committed to earning their 75 hours of service learning by November 2026. Applications are open now at baltimorevotes.org/student-service-learning. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis until each school in Baltimore has a representative. If you are interested or have any questions, please contact [email protected].