Meet Lily Woo: The New Civic and Voter Education Coordinator Transforming Engagement in Our State

Before taking her position with the Secretary of State, Lily Woo, a former public school teacher, didn’t know much about how elections worked in New Hampshire. Like many voters, she walked into the polls, greeted the poll workers, got her ballot, and bought cookies from the fundraising groups outside. She never thought about the effort that goes into running elections.

Now, as the state’s civic and voter education coordinator, her goal is to change that. This role was created last summer to boost voter participation across the state. Woo brings her experience as a social studies teacher from Bow to this new position.

One of her first projects is developing educational resources about voting and elections for public schools. New Hampshire recently passed a law requiring middle and high schools to cover this topic, but Woo insists her work is meant to complement that, not dictate it. “I wouldn’t want to tell teachers how to teach,” she says. Her resources offer options, allowing teachers to select what best fits their classrooms.

To find out what information was most needed, Woo attended 15 training sessions for poll workers. This included talking to moderators and ballot counters about their frequently asked questions. “I’m building a curriculum based on what election officials wish people knew about the voting process,” she explains.

Some key topics she has identified include the rules specific to polling places, such as what voters can wear and how ballot counting machines work to safeguard votes. She’s also creating materials to guide first-time voters through the voting experience, easing their anxieties.

Woo is also looking to create educational resources in multiple languages to better serve immigrants and non-English speakers, following a successful push from the Secretary of State’s office that produced multilingual voter guides a few years ago.

She recognizes that civic education is a debated topic today, not just in New Hampshire, but across the country. Despite the scrutiny surrounding election-related roles, Woo has not faced any resistance in her new position.

With misinformation about elections rampant, Woo is committed to sharing accurate information. To combat this problem, the Secretary of State’s office has also produced informative videos about election security and the dangers of misinformation.

Woo attributes some of the public’s distrust in elections to the isolation caused by the pandemic. “Social distancing helped prevent illness but also created divides within communities,” she notes. She believes reconnecting these groups is essential.

In her role, she aims to foster community engagement. For example, she is considering forming a collegiate task force to involve students in legislation affecting them and an inter-generational program to pair youth with seniors.

“If we can get young people to reach out to veterans, we can show them they’re not forgotten,” she shares. Building these connections is her primary focus as it strengthens community bonds and helps restore trust in institutions.

Ultimately, Woo hopes to create an environment where education fosters understanding and builds bridges within the community. “Strong communities help rebuild trust in our institutions,” she concludes.