Each week, “Pop Quiz” features an interview with a member of Greater Houston’s education community. To suggest someone we should interview with an interesting story to tell, email us at education@houstonlanding.org.
Meet the interviewee
Over half of Harris County registered voters have yet to cast their ballots ahead of Election Day, and for young voters, that percentage is likely much higher.
During the 2022 midterms, 75 percent of Harris County’s registered voters under 30 failed to show up to the polls. In Alief, where voter participation is generally below-average, high school student Helin Wang said young people are particularly likely to tune out politics.
“District F is known as the forgotten district,” said Helin, referencing the Houston City Council area that includes parts of Alief. “Often, people will tell me, ‘I don’t care about politics,’ or, ‘I don’t think my vote matters.’”
Helin is a sophomore at Kerr High School in Alief ISD and the director of events for AliefVotes, a student-run nonprofit dedicated to getting out the youth vote since 2022. Although she is under 18 and not eligible to vote, Helin has spent the past semester helping her classmates, community members and peers perform their civic duty.
In September, over 200 Alief residents attended a voter education workshop Helin helped organize in the Chinese Community Center. On Election Day, a school holiday for Alief students, Helin will be at the polls — not to vote, but as a volunteer.
After the election results are in, Helin’s community work isn’t over. Later this November, she’ll help host a disaster preparedness workshop for Alief residents, giving out 500 pounds of disaster supplies ahead of the next hurricane season.
In our latest Pop Quiz, the Houston Landing spoke with Helin about her outreach efforts and how she’s helping Houston’s young people find their voice at the ballot box.
What made you want to get involved in voter engagement work?
I was introduced to AliefVotes last year through a teacher’s recommendation, and through AliefVotes, I was able to learn the importance of voting and getting everyone’s voices out there, especially youth. Youth voices usually get ignored, and especially in Alief, where voter engagement is low. So through AliefVotes, I was able to be a part of Get Out the Vote initiatives, learn the importance of voting, and learn about some of the struggles regarding voting and how we can potentially combat that.
In your experience putting on events, what works and what doesn’t work when it comes to trying to get students to vote?
Targeting youth voices can be really hard, because sometimes we’re really stubborn. I would say what works is trying to listen to their struggles and their point of view, and trying to work around that, rather than just having one straight, clear answer to everyone’s struggles.
Everyone’s going through different things. Everyone has their own reason to vote or not to vote, or to vote for a certain party, but we’re here to get their voice out. And maybe they think their voice doesn’t matter. Maybe they don’t have time, but we always have a way of molding around their struggles, to get them to open up, or to maybe relate to their struggle on a personal level. If, for example, they’re saying that they’re too busy, we can talk about all of the polling locations possible and their hours. … Or if they’re saying, for example, they have a disability, we could send someone to knock on their door and give them a voting ticket that way.
How do students generally react to your outreach efforts?
The main things that I’ve been hearing are like, “I don’t really care about politics,” or, “I don’t really have time,” or, “I don’t really care about this,” and stuff like that. But what I would say to them is, “What you vote on really does have an impact on you right now and in the future.” For example, local elections will affect what schools have to say about what you learn, your teachers, your teacher salaries and all things like that. So it really does impact you. … On Election Day, at least in Alief, we have the day off. So there’s really no excuse.
Which issues do you hear are top of mind for young people this election season?
I’ve heard a lot about student debt, student loans, scholarship money, taxes, and I think just the future in general. A lot of youth are really anxious about their futures and they want a politician who will represent them and help with their student loans.
What’s next for AliefVotes after the election is over?
I am currently working on a project called “Hugs for Hope,” where I’m partnering up with one of the [AliefVotes] fellows to partner up with hospitals and to give plushies to hospital patients.
We also have a hurricane preparedness, disaster preparedness workshop coming up in the next two weeks. I would say it’s not just about voting, but about getting to boost community engagement in general.
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