Ryan Giblin, Lawrence High School senior, and Baylee Schmeck, Eudora High School senior, will turn 18 on Tuesday. They are the only two registered voters in the county who will turn 18 on Election Day, and both plan to head to the polls.

It will be a memorable birthday for two Douglas County teenagers.

On Tuesday when Baylee Schmeck and Ryan Giblin both turn 18, they will also get to cast their votes in the presidential election.

“I thought it was kind of weird because I didn’t know if I was going to be able to vote,” said Giblin, a Lawrence High senior who lives with his family just southwest of Lawrence.

According to county records, Giblin and Schmeck are the only two voters in the county who will get to vote on the first day they are eligible.

Both students learned several weeks ago from teachers at school that they would be eligible to vote in the election, so they filled out proper registration forms.

“When I found out, I thought it was pretty cool,” said Schmeck, a Eudora High School senior.

Douglas County Clerk Jamie Shew said his office seeks to register 16- and 17-year-olds at schools to get their names on the books. But they are put on suspended voter status until they turn 18.

Nineteen suspended registered voters will have turned 18 by Election Day, Shew said.

He said registering young voters early is a good way to raise civic awareness.

Schmeck, who plans to attend Kansas State University next year to study photography, said she started paying more attention to the positions of the presidential candidates once she found out she could vote. It also helped that her government class did an election project.

“Once I found out I’d be able to vote, I tried to pay more attention and gather an educated opinion,” Schmeck said.

She said that she registered as a Democrat, but she declined to reveal which presidential candidate she planned to support.

Giblin, a co-captain and defensive end on the LHS football team, registered as a Republican, but he said he researched the race before deciding on Sen. John McCain. He said he liked the GOP candidate’s tax plan better.

Giblin plans to attend KU next year to study sports management, and he also has watched the debates and studied the issues more since he registered to vote. “I thought it was important because I’ve been watching it so much, and it’s a close race,” he said.

Both of the county’s birthday voters said they wanted all eligible young voters to get involved. “If they get into a habit when they’re young to not vote, I don’t think they would start voting later in life,” Schmeck said.