Kauai schools celebrate student voter drive that registered 800 new voters
Sixteen Kauai student leaders helped sign up more than 800 new voters, with Waimea and Kapaa high schools ranking among the nation’s top five.
Sixteen Kauai student leaders helped register more than 800 new voters, a countywide push that now heads into the summer election deadlines for the 2026 primary.
County and state education officials recognized the students on May 11, with Mayor Derek S.K. Kawakami’s office represented by Managing Director Reiko Matsuyama. The campaign stretched across Waimea High School, Kapaa High School, Kauai High School, Island School, Kauai Christian Academy and Hawaii Technology Academy, showing the drive reached multiple campuses rather than a single program.
The strongest results came from Waimea and Kapaa high schools. Waimea High School registered 267 new voters and ranked No. 4 nationally in The Civics Center’s high-school voter registration program rankings. Kapaa High School followed closely with 265 new voters and a No. 5 national ranking. Together, the two schools accounted for 532 registrations, more than half of the countywide total tied to the student-led effort.
The milestone matters because it feeds directly into the next election calendar. For the 2026 Primary Election, first-time voters must submit a paper registration application by July 29, and voted ballots must be received by 7:00 p.m. on Aug. 8. Kauai County’s Elections Division is at 4386 Rice Street, Room 101, in Līhue, and the office lists its phone number as (808) 241-4800.
The Civics Center, the nonprofit behind the rankings, says it provides free training and easy-to-use resources for twice-yearly high-school voter-registration drives. That model has taken root on Kauai over the past two years, giving students a structured way to bring classmates and soon-to-be voters into the registration system before they turn 18.
Kauai Complex Area Superintendent Leila Maeda-Kobayashi said the opportunities were not available when her daughter was in school, underscoring how new student-led voter engagement remains on the island. The program also has a clear pipeline effect: Hawaii allows 16-year-olds to register, although they cannot cast a ballot until they turn 18.
This year’s recognition builds on a 2025 campaign that honored six high school students and a Department of Education resource teacher after they helped register more than 300 voters. In that drive, Waimea High registered 135 voters, Kapaa High 106 and Island School 77. Organizers launched the initiative in summer 2024 after Bevin Parker-Evans and Mary Lu Kelley met with then-Complex Area Superintendent Daniel Hamada to discuss expanding civic participation in Kauai high schools.
With the primary ballot deadline approaching, the student registrations now represent more than a celebration. They are a measurable pool of first-time voters entering the county and state electorate before the next round of decisions in Līhue and Honolulu.
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