A report by the Texas Civil Rights Project released last week showed a low number of high schools in the state are complying with a law that requires principals to request voter registration forms from the Secretary of State's office at least twice a year.

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

Community Impact Newspaper reached out to Hays CISD and San Marcos CISD to find out whether students were receiving voter registration forms.

At HCISD, spokesperson Tim Savoy said the district reminds principals each year to put voter registration form requests to the secretary of state's office.

For the May 2016 election, there were 779 HCISD students enrolled who were eligible to vote, and for the November 2016 election, there were 364 students eligible, according to the district.

According to Savoy, the principal invited the county election office to be on the Hays High School campus last year for a couple of days. The school plans to do it again this year to help teach students about voter registration, Savoy said.

"The bulk of the students are delivered forms in their government classes during a lesson and notification provided by the teachers," he said, adding seniors are required to take a government class.

Students who are not in the government class the semester they turn 18 are individually provided voter registration cards, and forms are available in campus offices, Savoy said.

The district ordered 2,000 forms in September 2014 and reordered 4,000 this month, Savoy said. The forms are distributed to the four campuses with high school-age students: Hays High School, Lehman High School, Live Oak Academy and the Impact Center.

At SMCISD, the Junior State of America, an on-campus political awareness organization, holds a voter registration drive each year, according to spokesperson Andrew Fernandez. The League of Women Voters also visits the district each year, and district staffers that serve as voter registrars also register seniors enrolled in government and economics classes.

"Voter registration is promoted through social studies classes, the election process in government classes and political awareness through JSA and other campus organizations," Fernandez said in an email.

Fernandez did not have a total number of students eligible to vote in the May and November 2016 elections.

"Quite a few of our students were registered to vote," he said, adding many registered to vote when they renewed their driver's licenses and during campus voter registration drives.

SMCISD Superintendent Michael Cardona said he was surprised by the numbers reported by Texas Civil Rights Project.

"Part of our curriculum, whether you're in government or social studies or U.S. history, is civic engagement," he said. "If the administration is doing their due diligence and they are walking classrooms, they should ensure that their kids are being active."