At least 100,000 California teenagers have pre-registered to vote as part of a statewide program targeting 16- and 17-year-olds to sign up.

California Secretary of State Alex Padilla announced the milestone on Friday, noting that there has been a sharp increase in registrations amid the student-led call for gun control and political activism demonstrated in the March for Our Lives movement. 

“This is a big milestone,” Padilla said, according to the LA Times. “I’m optimistic it’s going to translate into action at the ballot box.”

{mosads}Though the program began in fall 2016, more than 10 percent of the sign-ups have been in the last few weeks, coinciding with the youth-led March for Our Lives rally in Washington, D.C., and across the country. The movement behind the rallies, begun by students who survived the school shooting in Parkland, Fla., in February, has focused on calling for congressional action on gun control and targeting pro-gun lawmakers at the polls in the wake of the Florida high school shooting.

“The impact of recent events is undeniable,” Padilla said, according to the report. “It’s absolutely served as a motivator for young people to pay more attention.”

At least 4,000 people reportedly registered to vote during March for Our Lives events last month.

Most of the teenagers who have pre-registered to vote did so as unaffiliated, nonparty voters, while about 38 percent pre-registered as Democrats and 10 percent as Republicans. The state will automatically activate participants’ voter registration on the day they turn 18.