Monroe County elections office brings voter registration lessons to Keys high schools

Monroe County’s elections chief is taking voter registration straight into Keys classrooms, turning a civics lesson into a pipeline for the next generation of local voters. Supervisor of Elections Sherri Hodies has been visiting high schools this spring to register students who are already 18 and preregister those who are 16 or 17, aiming to get them on the rolls before they age into the electorate.

Hodies spoke at Somerset Island Prep on May 11 and at Basilica High School on May 15. Monroe County Schools also posted about civic-engagement visits at Key West High School and Marathon Middle High School, showing the effort reaching campuses from Key West to the Middle Keys rather than staying confined to one school or one city. The county elections office operates from Key West with a branch office in Marathon, a setup that appears to be helping it work across the island chain.

The timing matters. Florida allows eligible residents to preregister at 16 and vote in elections held on or after their 18th birthday. The state’s registration deadline is 29 days before Election Day, which means a student who turns 18 after that cutoff but preregistered on time can still vote in that election. That makes high school outreach more than a lesson in procedure: it can decide whether a first-time voter is ready for the next local race, not the one after that.

That could matter in Monroe County, where school enrollment is small and many young residents leave after graduation. By registering students before they move away, the elections office is trying to build habits early in a county where turnout in local races can hinge on relatively small numbers of ballots. The strategy also lowers the friction that often keeps first-time voters from participating later, when election deadlines and eligibility rules can feel like obstacles instead of invitations.

The county’s voter rolls show the scale of the electorate Hodies is trying to grow. As of May 17, 2026, Monroe County had 54,380 active registered voters, including 24,902 Republicans, 14,719 Democrats and 14,759 voters registered with other affiliations. Hodies, elected supervisor in November 2024, is betting that hands-on registration in high school hallways can help those totals rise and, more important, translate into actual participation in future Monroe County elections.