Columbia High & Marion County partner for young voter program

COLUMBIA, Miss. (WDAM) - Election season is quickly approaching, and students at Columbia High School are getting a head start by encouraging the political power of young people.

Absentee, poll official, signature curing – all terms that may or may not be familiar to young voters. However, here in the Pine Belt, Columbia High ensures students understand the importance and the voting process.

“Elections have emotions in it; they have politics in it,” said Marion County Circuit Clerk Janette Nolan. “There’s a lot of things that happen in an election cycle.”

Nolan said she and her team find the partnership to be very beneficial. She said the goal is to combat intimidation associated with voting.

Hallie Haddox, the Columbia High School 2022-2023 homecoming queen, said the program has helped her become more familiar with voting systems.

“I haven’t really done any voting before, especially with this,” said Haddox. “It’s just been on google forms and stuff, but with these (voting) machines, it allows me to get in touch with something I will do in the future, maybe in the next year or so.”

Nolan added that she wants to reassure all of Marion County that the new voting machines are regularly tested for accuracy.

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