An education in voting
Steubenville students get hands-on election experience
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STEUBENVILLE -- Just about every high school in the country has held or will hold elections for class officers this year.
That includes the students at Steubenville High School, who had the unique opportunity Friday to cast their ballots with the help of the Jefferson County Board of Elections.
Election officials joined with the administration at the school to turn the class election process into a learning experience, one that will help prepare them for the time when they are eligible to vote for local, state and national issues and officials, representatives from the school and the election board explained.
The idea to hold the elections in the Crimson Center was developed after Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose came to the school earlier this year with his youth voter program.
“We were fortunate to have a visit from LaRose, and he brought his Youth in the Booth voting initiative here,” said Lauren Linn, an English teacher at the school who worked with Principal Aaron Newman to facilitate the April 28 event. “I got to talking with officials from the board of elections, and they said they could do the class officer elections the same way. I kept that in mind, talked it over with Newman and he said let’s do it.”
LaRose’s program asked the students to choose their favorite football team, pizza and beverage, but students were able to go through the process every Ohio voter goes through when they vote at a polling location: They signed in, were given a ballot by a precinct worker, marked their votes, fed them into the machine that tabulates the numbers and received an “I Voted Today” sticker.
Students followed the same procedure Friday -- only they were actually casting their votes for the class officers.
“We boosted the responsibilities of our class officers and made those offices more than just a title,” Linn explained. “We gave them more responsibility and they have more defined job descriptions. We told the students about it, and spread the word about it on the first day of school. They could declare their candidacy by the first Friday of the school year. We got that list over to the board of elections, they produced the real ballots and we’re here for the election.”
Students had the opportunity to campaign with posters and T-shirts, and the school’s in-house television station produced short bios on many of the candidates.
Bob Gale, director of the county board of elections, said the experience was good for the students.
“From what we have seen, the kids are just ecstatic,” Gale explained. “They are so happy and enjoying this whole process, as well as those who are running for office. It’s great to be in this environment, showing students how you vote, how it works and doing the same thing their parents will be doing.”
Voting was conducted in two sessions, with freshmen and sophomores participating during the morning and juniors and seniors participating in the afternoon.
Linn said the students enjoyed the entire process.
“They are really excited. We generated a lot of buzz,” she said. “We had a lot of positive buy-in and feedback from the kids. They really enjoyed it. I think as we grow this event, we may, just based on their comments, push them toward the campaign process a bit more.”
Mayor Ralph Petrella addressed the morning session, Linn explained, and talked about the importance of voting. He speaks from experience -- he won the Republican primary election for the office by a 13-vote margin over Kimberly Hahn on May 6, 2025. Petrella said if just a few of the 795 city residents who voted for him had decided not to cast their ballots that day, those results could have been different.
Since the juniors and seniors are older, a different message was shared during their session. In addition to going through the voting process, they had the chance to register to vote and to get information about becoming a poll worker. Gale said after the event that around five students registered to vote and several more had taken information about working the polls.
Ohio law allows 17-year-olds to be poll workers, Gale explained. Anyone who will be 18 before the Nov. 3 election is eligible to register to vote, he added.
Gale said he wants to see the program expand to other schools in the county, adding he would like to bring juniors and seniors from several schools together in a central location where board of elections officials could prepare them to vote. Having an understanding of how the process works can make the experience a little less stressful for those who are going to the polls for the first time.
“Ultimately, that’s what this event is focused on -- getting them comfortable with the process so that when they turn 18 and become adults, walking into a polling location is not scary,” Linn said.
The deadline to register to vote in the Nov. 3 election is 9 p.m. Oct. 5, with early voting scheduled to begin Oct. 6. Linn said she will be accompanying students who have registered to vote to the board of elections office that day so they are able to cast their ballots.