You Have Power: A Message to First-Time Voters in 2026

With 2025 behind us, I want to talk to you about the new year, what it means for our country, and what it can mean for you.

One of my favorite parts of high school history was learning about the civil rights movement. It was the role of leadership and grassroots organizing, harnessing free speech to galvanize attention and move public understanding. It was themes of conflict and cooperation and the idea that millions of people could come to embrace basic values about building a better society. It was the notion that with enough determination and persistence, even in the face of violent opposition, those values could find their way to legislation and change people’s lives.

We learned about Andrew Goodman, James Earl Chaney, and Michael Schwerner, three young civil rights workers murdered by Ku Klux Klan members in Mississippi during the Freedom Summer voter registration project in June 1964. One of the goals of the killings was to intimidate others, to send the message that Jim Crow and voter suppression were here to stay.

But the intimidation did not succeed in ending the civil rights movement or driving civil rights workers out of Mississippi. Instead, the movement grew. Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act into law days after the murders, followed by the Voting Rights Act in 1965.

When I was growing up, these changes seemed permanent, but today, the landscape has shifted. Concepts like diversity, equity, and inclusion, get paired with the word “illegal.” States are passing more laws to restrict voting access than to protect it.

And you may be seeing acts of cruelty and violence on your streets or in your schools or over and over again on social media. The sheer frequency can mean that even when your gut and heart say no and tell you that it’s time to act, the next image is there to replace it, one after another. As if there is nothing any of us can do.

But that’s not right. You have power. And you and your fellow high school seniors across America can prove it this spring.

The 2026 midterm elections will determine the control of Congress, as well as many state and local elections. Virtually every high school senior today is old enough to register to vote right now. Yet throughout this century under 30% of 18-year-olds on average have been registered during midterm elections. Adding unregistered 19-year-olds to the mix, it’s roughly 5 million who go unregistered, and don’t even have a real opportunity to vote, cycle after cycle. That means you and your peers have been effectively disenfranchised, through no fault of your own.

Most schools haven’t stepped up. Most politicians haven’t stepped up. Most parents aren’t aware that their teens are old enough to register before they turn 18. We can work to educate and persuade adults to take action, but you don’t need to wait. The power is already in your hands. You are the ones who actually know the issues that are impacting your own life and your own community, and you are the ones in the best position to encourage your peers. You are the ones who can get registered today and help your friends to understand the how and why of doing the same.

Here’s what it looks like. It’s joyful, connected, empowering.

You don’t have to believe that voting will solve all problems or that you’ll be inspired by a slate of perfect candidates. The young people whose leadership defined Freedom Summer had no such illusions. They faced countless unappealing compromises and imperfect solutions, but they showed the world how to exercise their rights, and so can you.

What they understood, and what I hope you will understand, is that voting in the U.S. starts with registration, and when you’re not registered and making your plan to vote, you are effectively ceding a vitally important power to others. You are handing to others the power to make these choices, the power to wield public resources and policies in ways that will impact your lives and the future of your communities. It will be their values and interests that matter, not yours.

It’s not a good bargain. You can do better. 2026 is the time to start.