September 15th, 2008 Howie P
Virginia’s Board of Elections ordered a whopping 200,000 additional voter registration forms after citizens throughout the state spoke out and
rocked their right to vote .
The Board ordered the voter registration forms after a big increase in the number of registrants exceeded the Board’s expectations. This is what we like to call a “good problem,” because the problem – the shortage of ballots – came as the result of more people wanting to participate in the electoral process.
Virginia has recently seen a dramatic increase in voter registration among the 18-35 years of age group. In mid-August,
64 percent of the 200,000 voters who had registered since January were in this age cohort. After you whip out calculator and do some math, that’s about 128,000 new youth voters in Virginia alone. And that was back in August.
Some Virginians who have asked for registration forms want to fill out those forms to make sure they’re registered, to guarantee their ability to vote even if they registered before. Their proactive stance regarding November 4, their desire to make sure they’ll have the ability to help affect the future of America through the power of the ballot, is exemplary of true American patriotism.
Virginia’s voter registration deadline is October 6, and a complete list of voter registration deadlines for the 50 states and the District of Columbia can be found
here.
Rock the Vote was in Blacksburg, VA today, causing part of the voter registration "problem." Check out photos
here.
Posted in 2008 election, Feeds, Virginia, rock the vote, voter registration, youth vote | No Comments »
September 12th, 2008 Howie P
Avid gamers across the country now have an easier way of registering to vote and getting involved in the biggest game this year: the 2008 presidential election.
Rock the Vote recently
partnered with Microsoft to make the Xbox 360 into a
political gaming machine.
You can now use
Xbox Live, the Xbox 360’s online digital exchange system, to register to vote, chat about politics, and make your opinions known in polls.
Together, we’re taking gaming to a whole new level. You can be a part of the most important game yet.
Log on to Xbox Live today and
make your voice heard. Some Xbox Live election poll results
are already in.
Posted in 2008 election, Feeds, Polls, Xbox, Xbox 360, politics, rock the vote, voter registration | No Comments »
June 12th, 2008 Julia
The General Election is in full swing and that means so is the scrutiny. Check out this campaign update from our friends at Current TV.
And now that you've seen a whale give birth and both candidates' positions on Iraq, make sure you
register to vote.
Posted in 2008 election, Feeds | No Comments »
June 9th, 2008 Julia
Everyone on the Digital Team is psyched about the
Young Voter Platform and how many thousands of people have signed on. I just wanted to introduce you to our newest Digital Intern, who's been helping us get the word out on
MySpace:
What up blogosphere! My name is Andrew Visnovsky. I came to DC to work with Rock the Vote all the way from the great state of Pennsylvania, Centre County precinct represent! I am pumped to have the opportunity to work with Rock The Vote in what is looking to be one of the most interesting and most important presidential election of my lifetime.
When I came home from school at the end of the spring I was presented with 2 options. Stay at home with, get a dead-end job and watch the world go by, or get out there and actually try to make a difference. I decided to do the latter. In-so-doing I will now be working the 1's and 0's in the digital department.
I'm really excited to be working with Rock the Vote and help with our goal of getting 2,000,000 young voters registered and to the voting booth in '08. I knew that voting and elections were going to be a priority in my life for a long time.
Take a second to check out Andrew's work at www.myspace.com/rockthevote.
Posted in 2008 election, Feeds, MySpace, Young Voter Platform, young voters | No Comments »
June 9th, 2008 Neal Lavon
What a long, strange trip this has been.
Over the weekend, Senator Hillary Clinton endorsed Senator Barack Obama, signalling the end of the Democratic primary.
Today, we want to take a moment to congratulate Senator Clinton and her team on a well-executed run. Whatever path Senator Clinton may travel next, we wish her only the best and hope she will continue to fight for social justice, economic equality and continue her lifelong commitment to equal access to health care.
Our congratulations also go out to Senator Obama and his staff. We applaud the Senator's commitment to progressive causes, and his campaign's efforts to energize and mobilize young Americans.
If the Democratic primary contests taught us anything, it is the importance of young voters. Our turnout increased by more than 100% in many states. That's unprecedented. And believe us, it's only the beginning.
Youth across America have sent a clear message: if you want us to stand with you and your party in November, then you will need to stand with us now.
We here at Rock the Vote are ready for the next phase of this historic adventure.
We could not be more excited with the current field of candidates, and look forward to engaging Senator Obama and Senator McCain on the issues that young people care about most: the economy, the war, and health care.
Our polling has shown that most young Americans (you!) have favorable impressions of both candidates, and we look forward to helping you learn more about each candidate, each major party's platform, and your rights as a young voter.
We will never tell you who to vote for - we only ask that you vote.
Now more than ever we want you to stay tuned and spread the word.
It's a long road to November, but we're just warming up.
We're ready to Rock the Vote. Are you?
Posted in 2008 election, Barack Obama, Feeds, Hillary Clinton, John McCain, young voters | No Comments »
June 4th, 2008 Neal Lavon
A picture says a million words:
Last night, Senator Barack Obama clinched enough delegates to become the nominee for the Democratic party and joins Senator John McCain in the general contest for the President of our country.
Young people began voting in record numbers in 2004 and again in 2006 and continued that trend--doubling, tripling and quadrupling their turnout in this primary season. Young Americans have propelled both candidates to major victories this election cycle and are poised to play a major role in picking our next president.
As a generation, we recognize the power we have to create real change, and we are prepared to use it. We are fighting for our country, involved in our communities, and voting. And this is just the beginning. We are committed to electing a new president in November who represents us – and who fights for us – and to ensuring he makes good on his promises after elected. Rock the Vote congratulates the nominees and calls on them to address our needs and our hopes for our country by living up to the values at the core of our democracy and addressing the issues that young people care about most.
Posted in 2008 election, Barack Obama, Feeds, John McCain, young voters | No Comments »
June 3rd, 2008 Julia
Here's a hello from our newest Marketing Intern, Madeline Peters:
This week begins what is anticipated to be the best summer of my life while I live in the nation's capital and intern with Rock the Vote! I am so excited about the opportunity to help the efforts of an organization that I think rocks (had to use the pun). I wanted to work with RTV because I have always admired the work they have done and only dreamed that I could be a force to help them accomplish the goal of registering over 2,000,000 voters. Now my dreams are coming true and I am excited to be around people that share an interest and passion to ignite youth to be the impact that we will be.
I come to D.C. from Baton Rouge, La. where I go to Louisiana State University (Geaux Tigers!). In the fall I will enter my junior year to continue working toward a degree in political communications from the incredible Manship School of Mass Communications and a business minor. However, I call the beautiful beaches and hospitable people of Pensacola, Fla. home.
I am pumped about the privilege I have to vote in my first presidential election in November. I think our generation continues to learn the honor and impact of voting. I think it is so cool that voting only takes a short amount of time to shape and can empower millions. There are millions of people to empower and I am excited to be here and help make it happen.
She's got some big dreams for the summer. We're excited to have Madeline on our team.
Posted in 2008 election, Feeds, voter registration, young voters | No Comments »
June 2nd, 2008 Julia
You know it's finally summer time when the interns arrive. Our office is now full of college students from around the country. Take a second to wish them hello!
Hey there everyone, my name is Rebekah Ontiveros. Rather than adopting the couch potato lifestyle this summer I wanted to get on board the surge of excitement that surrounds the 2008 Presidential Election. Equally motivating for me to become involved this summer is that this is the first Presidential Election that I am old enough to vote in!
This summer I will be spending my time in the communications department here at Rock The Vote. I am so excited to be an intern at an organization as fabulous as this one. I have always had a passion for politics and social awareness so it only seemed natural that I would find myself at a place as cool as RTV. I love talking about anything political in nature and therefore I can have a conversation on anything and everything. I am an online networking junkie and so you can pretty much catch me on either my Myspace or Facebook. I claim the western part of the country as "home" and have lived in Alaska, Nevada, and Oklahoma. I now live in Virginia and I proudly attend the University of Maryland (Fear The Turtle). I can't wait to get into all the exciting projects they have in store for me and I look forward to meeting tons of new people that I will be working with. I am so very proud to be a contributing member of the team here and to help further the ongoing effort to ROCK THE VOTE!
Stay tuned for more posts from our fabulous interns!
Posted in 2008 election, Feeds, young activists, young voters | No Comments »
June 2nd, 2008 Neal Lavon
When Clinton won Puerto Rico this weekend, arguably the biggest winner was the Latino community - showing up in big numbers once again. Latino turnout in the 2008 primaries is, like most other groups' turnout, unprecedented.
New Democratic Network (NDN) has a major report out about the Hispanic electorate and the 2008 Elections. The report is clearly partisan, but if you can look past that, the facts are pretty interesting, particularly as it relates to the issue of immigration. Be sure to check it out, and consider how immigration, and immigration reform will factor into your vote.
Posted in 2008 election, Election Day voter registration, Feeds, Hispanics, Latino, New Democratic Network, Puerto Rico, politics | No Comments »
May 21st, 2008 Julia
It's easy to forget how far we've come. 6.4 million young voters have already voted this year, and I was sure voter apathy had gone the way of the dinosaur. But then I thought back to the 2000 elections. Which really weren't so long ago.
HBO's new movie
Recount, takes us back to the time when election day came and went and there wasn't a clear winner. Remember hanging and pregnant chads? Underneath all the jokes was a rather chilling reality. Recount is the story of the scheming that started before the polls had even closed, and how the voice of the people got lost in the politics.
Watching Kevin Spacey as a lawyer who champions voter rights in Florida (and watching Laura Dern-- as Katherine Harris-- trample all over them) made me remember my sense of outrage in 2000. I couldn't even vote then, and I was furious. We all learned the hard way-- when we don't exercise our right to vote, bureaucracy ends up picking our president.
Now I'm all about positive thinking-- talking about what we can do as a young voter movement is so much more powerful than talking about what threatens us. But I do think we should remember the seventh of November, 2000, as we gear up for 11/04/2008. It's important to remember what happened in Florida, and make sure it doesn't happen again.
So rather than talking about voter fraud, or voter disenfranchisement, let's talk about voter protection. What can you do to make sure your vote counts?
VOTE.
We can protect our votes by turning out en masse on Election Day. With voter turnout reaching record high levels, we are going to be a voice that can't be ignored. We're getting
2 million young voters registered to vote this year. You can join us.
Recount airs on HBO this Sunday. If you have any friends that aren't excited about this year's elections, ask them to check it out. Then make sure they go vote!
Posted in 2008 election, Feeds, recount, voter registration | No Comments »
May 6th, 2008 Kotsher
An article by the
Center for American Progress came out yesterday with some new polling on the Millennial Generation.
You can't ignore us any longer; the numbers are out. We're the only age group this election to have a 12% increase in voter turnout. And the general election is still six months away!
And Millennials are voting at increasingly high rates. Though young people are less likely to vote than older people, Millennials are starting to close the gap. “In the primary elections held thus far in 2008,” noted a Pew Research Center paper, “voter turnout has been up sharply, especially among young people.” And the increases in voting for Millennials this year come on top of other recent increases. In 2004, “turnout among young voters increased 12 percent compared to 2000, the biggest increase in any single age group.” As the director of Rock the Vote argues: “2008 is set to become the third major election in a row with an increase in turnout among young voters.”
If we're making a splash this early in the election cycle, there's no way that the candidates won't be able to pay attention to our issues. Change is a comin'.
Posted in 2008 election, Feeds, young voters | No Comments »
April 29th, 2008 Julia
Already, reports are rolling in from people who have entered to win the Rock the Trail contest. We're looking for fresh perspectives on this year's election, on the issues that matter, and what's inspiring young voters to go to the polls.
Already, we're seeing frank images from journalists like Brittny Nielsen:
We're reading inspiring words from reporters like Archana Prasanna:
“My vision for the United States in 2015 is an optimistic one. Firstly, I envision a world it will be far more environmentally friendly... My hope is that universal health care will be implemented in the near future... The United States has gained a bad reputation among various countries around the world. We are misunderstood since our actions don't always correlate with our principles. I anticipate that in 2015, America will be looked at differently."
And in true Rock the Vote form, we're listening to the songs that are inspiring voter action, like this recommendation from Saum Eskanadi:
You could call political action the ultimate act of self-confidence. Whether that be a group or an individual, there is a moment, where we are so sure that we have no choice but to make ourselves heard. The trick is knowing that you CAN. You can do anything.
I owe my renewed faith in my ability to express my ideas to Kate Nash's song "Merry Happy." Leave it to the sassy British girl to teach the gay American boy how to speak out.
Do you have something to say this year? Apply now to be a Rock the Trail Reporter at www.rockthevote.com/rockthetrail. We'll continue to post the best of our early submissions, so don't wait. Deadline is May 7 at 11:59 PM.
Posted in 2008 election, Feeds, rock the trail | No Comments »
April 24th, 2008 Julia
If you're a North Carolina or Indiana voter, you don't need to wait until the May 6 Primary-- you can vote today!
Early voting sites are open all around NC until May 3.
If you forgot to register to vote in North Carolina, no worries. If you vote early, you can register on site. Just remember to bring an ID, and proof of residency if you have it.
In Indiana, you can vote
absentee-in-person from now until the elections
College students: you probably don't need a reminder, but May 6 is an exam day for UNC system schools, and school's out for most of you in Indiana. If you've got a Chem 101 exam or a History paper, take a break from studying and get your voting out of the way. If you're leaving for summer break, don't forget to vote before you leave town.
From state to state, young voter turnout had doubled, tripled, and sometimes even quadrupled. NC and IN might have late primaries, but people are looking to you to see if you'll keep the trend. Don't let them down!
Posted in 2008 election, Feeds, Primaries, early voting | No Comments »
