Student activist spotlight: Isabella Iregui

Student activist spotlight

Registering voters with Isabella Iregui

by Gabrielle Krieger

Isabella Iregui (USG '23) became a student ambassador for the Save the Children Action Network in her Freshman year of high school. Save the Children, a humanitarian organization founded in 1919 in the UK, has branches across the world, including one in Washington. According to Iregui, the primary goal of the organization is to “provide representation for kids across the world.”

However, COVID-19 created challenges for Iregui and her group of ambassadors. For instance, their plans to travel to Washington D.C. last year for an annual Save the Children trip was cancelled. Despite these setbacks, her group still meets once a week to discuss current events and to plan future initiatives.

As the 2020 presidential election nears, one such issue the ambassadors worked on is registering voters. In doing so, Iregui hoped to address issues of voter suppression, which she said is tied “into racism in our government and our country.”

To help register voters, she and other ambassadors contacted relatives and friends, electronically or more often via postcard, to share resources on how they can register to vote and on how they can get informed on election-related issues.

Her interest in fighting voter suppression through registering voters stemmed from her belief that, “being able to vote as a citizen if you’re eligible is just a basic human right… you should be able to vote for the person you think represents you and our country’s best interests,” she said.

Isabella Iregui is a Sophomore at Annie Wright who volunteers with the Save the Children Action Network where she worked to educate and register potential voters. Even if you aren’t eligible to vote, Iregui said there are ways to get involved with elections. For instance, she encouraged people aged 16 or 17 to pre-register to vote. That way, for the next election, “your voter registration is immediately processed and you will be immediately sent your ballot,” she said.

For people under 16, there are other routes to getting involved. “If you’re not eligible to preregister, you can still encourage your family members and friends who are [eligible] to do so,” Iregui said.

“Being able to vote as a citizen if you're eligible is just a basic human right... you should be able to vote for the person you think represents you and your country's best interests."

In considering whether or not your vote matters, Isabella Iregui reminded: “There are around like 100 million people who decided not to vote last election and I think every single one of them decided their vote didn’t matter when collectively, it definitely does.” She also advised potential voters, “it doesn’t matter if you’re left wing or you’re right wing, it’s still your responsibility to vote.” 1 21