Given the importance of the youth vote in the 2008 presidential election, Rock the Vote hopes to excite the same demographic for the November midterm elections.
Rock the Vote, a non-partisan organization that registers young voters and promotes political awareness, has unveiled a campaign targeting five states recognized for youth and university presence: Colorado, Pennsylvania, Florida, Ohio and North Carolina, said Tracy Leatherberry, state coordinator for North Carolina.
“In the midterm elections...
Given the importance of the youth vote in the 2008 presidential election, Rock the Vote hopes to excite the same demographic for the November midterm elections.
Rock the Vote, a non-partisan organization that registers young voters and promotes political awareness, has unveiled a campaign targeting five states recognized for youth and university presence: Colorado, Pennsylvania, Florida, Ohio and North Carolina, said Tracy Leatherberry, state coordinator for North Carolina.
“In the midterm elections... you consistently see low voter turnout—not only among the youth, but among everyone,” Leatherberry said. “This year, since we had such a huge year in 2008, we wanted to follow up on that and make sure that people know that they need to vote in the midterm elections as well.”
For the 2008 presidential elections, Rock the Vote conducted its largest drive, registering 2.2 million new voters, Leatherberry said.
Junior Danni Lin, who interned at Rock the Vote this summer through DukeEngage, said the organization often tries to reach young people by heading to places they spend their time: bars, music festivals and concerts.
“One of our coordinators went bar-hopping on roller skates to register young people to vote,” Lin added. He added that the unorthodox approach was “totally successful.”
Lin also stressed the importance of new media in promoting registration, including blogging, Facebook, Twitter, online voting registration tools and text messaging.
Rock the Vote hopes to have a presence on Duke’s campus during the upcoming year, Leatherberry said. Representatives from the organization will be on campus for freshman orientation and plan to work with groups on campus—including fraternities and sororities—she added.
“If nothing else, you can always table and seek out people to register,” Lin said.
Leatherberry called North Carolina an important campaign state and said she hopes to register 10,000 young voters for the midterm elections.
“Ten thousand is a really big number for North Carolina, but in 2008, we registered 70,000 in North Carolina, so 10,000 is definitely attainable,” she said.
Leatherberry called the initiative to register voters historical because it represents the first major push for youth voters in a midterm election. In fact, this year Rock the Vote’s efforts are focused on not only colleges, but also on high schools. Because of a new law allowing 16-year-olds to pre-register to vote, Rock the Vote has a created a “democracy class” for high school students.
Senior Catalina Hidalgo, who also interned at Rock the Vote this summer, called the class a “really cool new initiative” for 2010. The class educates youth about the voting process and encourages students to become interested in politics.
“When you engage kids at a young age, you get more people to vote,” she said.
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