Each semester, the Osceola County Supervisor of Elections office holds a voter registration drive at the county high schools for students who are 16 years of age or older.

This year’s winner is Liberty High School.

Supervisor of Elections Mary Jane Arrington recently presented the trophy to Liberty High School Principal Robert Studly and several of the students at a recent Osceola County Commission meeting.

“We are very proud of the students of Liberty High School,’’ Arrington said. “They were very enthusiastic about the voter registration challenge.’’

County Commissioners Brandon Arrington and Fred Hawkins, Jr. also helped with the voter registration drive. Arrington spent a day at Liberty High School encouraging eligible students to register to vote and Hawkins spent a day at Harmony High School doing the same task.

As winners of the challenge, Liberty High School will get to keep the large, traveling trophy for one year. They will defend their title next year. Last year’s winning school was the Osceola County School for the Arts. It took second place this year. Poinciana High School was third.

Arrington said she thinks the challenge provides friendly competition between the high schools but also gets the students thinking about the privilege of voting.

“I spent a day at Poinciana High School and I had a number of students tell me they were looking forward to voting in the upcoming elections,’’ she said. “It is the responsibility of everyone to get out and vote and let their voices be heard.”

Under state law, students who are 16 and meet all the requirements, such as being a U.S. citizen, can pre-register to vote, but would have to wait until they are 18 before they can vote in an election. An 18-year-old, who meets all the criteria, can vote in an election as long as they are registered to vote 29 days before that election.

For more information on the High School Voter Registration Challenge or about registering to vote, visit the Elections Office web site at www.voteosceola.com or call the office at 407-742-6000.

Courtesy of the Osceola County Supervisor of Election Office