In a year that will see a primary and Presidential Election, Keota High School was recently honored with the Carrie Chapman Catt Award for voter registration.

Named after Iowa native and women’s suffragist Carrie Chapman Catt, the award recognizes Iowa Schools that complete voter registration for 90% or more of their eligible students. Keota joins 42 other high schools to reach that mark in 2023-24, the most in an academic year since Secretary of State Paul Pate created the award in 2019. Schools are also recognized for registering 70% and 50% of their eligible students.

Pate spoke with KCII about the importance of voter registration, especially for Iowa’s high schoolers. “It’s the starting point. If you want to be in the race you have to register for it. That gives you the ticket to be a part of our democracy. Young people are underestimated in so many ways, but we’ve seen in the last few elections in Iowa the eighteen to twenty-four-year-olds have been voting in record numbers.”

This is the first time that Keota High School has earned the Carrie Chapman Catt Award.