Grace Musilli and Lauren Johnson win League of Women Voters essay contest
Sussex. The two young women wrote on the question “Is voting a right or a privilege?” -- a timely question for 2020, which is the one hundred-year anniversary of women’s right to vote.
| 16 Aug 2020 | 10:21
Grace Musilli (Photo provided)
Lauren Johnson (Photo provided)
Grace Musilli and Lauren Johnson won first and second place in The League of Women Voters Sussex Highlands’ essay contest for 2020.
The essay posed the question to high school seniors, “Is voting a right or a privilege?” The topic of this essay is timely for 2020, as this is the one hundred-year anniversary of women’s right to vote in our country, and 100 years since the founding of the League of Women Voters of New Jersey. The League of Women Voters is a nonpartisan political organization that encourages informed and active participation in government and influences public policy through education and advocacy.
Grace Musilli, a 2020 graduate of High Point Regional High School, was awarded first place in the essay competition. Grace will attend American University in Washington, D.C. in the fall. She will enter a three-year undergraduate degree program in politics, policy, and law in the university’s scholars’ program.
Lauren Johnson, a 2020 graduate of Sparta High School, was awarded second place. She will attend Rutgers University in New Brunswick, N.J., in the fall. Lauren in undecided in her major, but is considering pre=law or foreign affairs.
Both young women are excited to be voting in a national election for the first time in November 2020. They encourage all 18-year-olds to register to vote and make their voices heard with their votes.
Grace and Lauren commented that the essay question seemed like a simple issue when they embarked on writing their essays. However, they quickly learned that the answer to the question is not so simple. Both women conducted in-depth research to formulate their answer in this challenging essay competition.