Texas principals have enough on their plates, and asking the state for voter registration forms shouldn't be another job responsibility, according to a statewide voice for high school principals.

Archie McAfee, executive director of the Texas Association of Secondary Principals, shared his thoughts Friday after the Texas Civil Rights Project released a report that found many high schools in the state are not complying with a more-than-30-year-old law that requires principals to request these forms for eligible students at least twice a year.

"It's not that principals aren't civic-minded," McAfee said from his office in Austin. "They’re saddled with graduation rates, dropout rates, test scores, school safety and all those things."

Over four years, legal advocacy organization The Texas Civil Rights Project found that only about 6 percent of schools complied with the state law. According to the report, this is not tracked by the state, so the nonprofit organization contacted every school district administration for this data.

In 2016, 198 out of 1,428 public high schools in Texas requested voter registration applications from the Secretary of State, and none of the nearly 1,800 private high schools in Texas requested applications.

The report said over the years, the Texas Civil Rights Project has asked the state office to change the procedure.

"Because the evidence could not be more clear that the overwhelming majority of high school principals, consumed with the education of young Texans, simply never request forms, we suggested that the SOS scrap that request process and affirmatively mail forms to high schools instead," Texas Civil Rights Project officials wrote in the report.

In a news release Friday, Texas Sec. of State Rolando Pablos said he commended the Texas superintendents who have pledged full participation in registering high schoolers to vote.

Pablos is working with his team to examine his office's internal policies and procedures, according to the release.

"The secretary’s objective is to identify and remove administrative burdens to ensure voter registration education materials are delivered in a timely manner and without needless requirements or outdated procedures," the release stated.

Since receiving a commitment from El Paso ISD Superintendent Juan Cabrera earlier this week to fully abide by the law, Pablos said more than 140 school district superintendents have pledged to ensure their high school principals request voter registration forms from the state.

For McAfee, there are more pressing matters principals—and the media—should be focusing on, including graduation rates and dropout rates.

"When things are not going well in society, who is looked upon to correct that evil? The school. Who is the head of the school? The principal," he said.

McAfee said the responsibility for educating students about voter registration should fall on the parents, not the schools.

"I learned my civic responsibility in voting from my parents," he said. "They didn't tell me this was important. They showed me it was important [by voting]."

Students can request a postage-paid voter registration application online here.