This morning, Iowa Secretary of State Paul D. Pate and Auditor & Commissioner of Elections for Muscatine County, Tibe Vander Linden, presented students at West Liberty High School with the 2025-2026 Carrie Chapman Catt Award! This award is presented to schools that achieve a voter registration rate of at least 90% of their eligible senior class. Shout-out to the 91% of the eligible members of the Class of 2026 who registered to vote, earning this award for WLHS!
Secretary Paul D. Pate started this award competition in 2019 with the mission of equipping schools with the necessary resources for conducting two successful voter registration drives. Starting the conversation with 17-year-olds who will be 18 years of age at the time of the general election has proven to be successful, as a record-breaking 49 high schools won the award for the 2025-26 school year! This, in turn, helps students to become more involved in government at all levels, from local school board and city council meetings to state and national elections.
The award is named after Carrie Chapman Catt, who played an instrumental role in the passage of the 19th Amendment granting women the right to vote. She was also one of the first women in the United states to serve as a Superintendent of schools. Carrie founded the League of Women Voters in 1920 to support women as they moved into the political mainstream. She worked tirelessly for women to have equal voting rights.
