Three High Schools Earn Colorado Secretary of State’s 2023 Eliza Pickrell Routt Awards
Denver, February 14, 2023 - Young Coloradans continue to be engaged and enthusiastic about our elections as three high schools have achieved the 2023 Eliza Pickrell Routt Award for registering 85% or more of eligible students to vote. This year’s winners are Central High School, Denver East High School, and KIPP Northeast Denver Leadership Academy.
“It is fantastic to see Colorado’s next generation of voters taking steps to engage in our electoral process,” said Secretary of State Jena Griswold. “Congratulations to the students and teachers earning the Eliza Pickrell Routt Award. I commend them for their leadership in ensuring our youngest voters can make their voices heard.”
The Eliza Pickrell Routt Award is given annually to high schools throughout the state that have at least 85% of eligible students registered to vote. This year, Central High School had nearly 92% of eligible seniors registered to vote, KIPP Northeast Denver Leadership Academy had 87% of seniors registered, and Denver East High School had 85% of eligible seniors registered.
Created in 2016, the award honors the legacy of Eliza Pickrell Routt, former First Lady and the first woman registered to vote in the state after Colorado passed women’s suffrage in 1893. As First Lady, she dedicated herself to equal rights for women and for a woman’s right to vote. Routt helped Colorado become the second state in the country to recognize women’s suffrage and the first to give women suffrage by popular referendum.
Since the award’s inception, it has been awarded 44 times. For a full list of winners, click here.
For more information on how to get your school involved in the Eliza Pickrell Routt Award and the high school voter registration challenge, please click here.
