Would you like popcorn with your voter registration?

Hi there -

I just got an email from our friends at Mobilize.org, a great organization (run by former Rock the Vote Street Team Leader Maya Enista!) dedicated to educating, empowering, and energizing young people, and wanted to pass it along. You can get more info here; here's the email:

Jennifer Aniston asked in a TV ad: "Would you let someone else choose your clothes? Your friends? Okay. What about your husband? No? Then why would you let someone else choose your president?" Jennifer Aniston is right.

According to “Every Woman Counts” in the 2008 Election, young single women are poised to be a huge voting bloc. 93% of women say they plan on voting in the 2008 Election, and 62% of women believe voting in this Election is more important than in previous Elections, but I don’t need to tell y’all that…

Join Mobilize.org staff and volunteers across the country in an evening at the movies, with a side of voter registration. When you go see Sex and the City (or Indiana Jones) this weekend, please print out a couple copies of the National Voter Registration form and ask those in front of you, and behind you, in line at the movie theater if they are registered to vote. If not, ask them to! That site also includes information on how to turn in forms, and the Mobilize.org staff (if on-site) will be more than happy to collect and process the forms for you.

Take a picture, take your friends and send us texts or pictures and we’ll post them online and hopefully, we’ll be able to connect you with one another in cities around the country. To sign up, or for more information – please email movies@mobilize.org. We’ll be giving our prizes, including popcorn and movie tickets for your next show, t-shirts and CD’s!

Have a great weekend, and enjoy the show!

PS – If they don’t want to fill out the form in line, please remind them they can visit www.mobilize.org and use our Rock The Vote registration widget to register to vote online in the comfort of their own home!

Take a look, get involved, and have some fun!

Christina Aguilera Rocks the Vote

Check out the LA Times' coverage of Christina Aguilera's Rock the Vote PSA:

In the new broadcast ad, set to debut later this summer, Aguilera sings a lullaby of "America the Beautiful" to her son, who was born in January. The Grammy winner said she didn't think twice about putting her son in the spot because it's "inevitable that he will be subjected to some amount of press," so it might as well be channeled into a good cause.

We can't wait to start seeing her PSA in print and on TV. Check back for more details on when you'll be able to see Christina Aguilera's ad on your TV.

In the meanwhile, be sure you download our voter registration form, and get ready to rock the vote.

What is your voting story

My last blog post was all about the One Tree Hill PSA, which was great because it highlighted that this is a year of voting firsts for many…and we want to hear your voice.

My experience tells of how I counted down the days until I was able to vote, and when the day came I was thrilled. But this isn’t about just me, it’s about your story. So share your voter voice with us, it can be long; it can be short; it can be a story, song or poem...just tell us what you think.

A fantastic feature that we want people to know about on the Rock the Vote website is the “Share Your Voting Story” form.

Everyday, we get emails from people wanting information about how to vote, how to check their voter status, and sometimes we hear from people who are planning their own voter registration events. But one of our favorite things, is hearing how people get out and rock the vote in their own unique way. And to give you something to work off of when you share your experience, here is a recent email you received:

The email had two lines and it read, “I voted. It felt great,” now tell us your story.

Quick FYI

Today is the Republican Primary in Idaho. It is an open primary, so if you haven't voted yet, be sure to get out to your poll before 8 pm MT/PT.

To find your polling place, visit: http://www.idahovotes.gov/vinfo.htm

Be sure to send us your voting story at http://www.rockthevote.com/voting-is-easy/the-voting-process/share-your-voting-story/.

Story of the Year Rocks the Vote

Outburn magazine's review of Story of the Year starts off with one assertion: they sound nothing like St. Louis' other hometown star, Nelly.

We at Rock the Vote aren't sure what that's supposed to mean. But these rockers do have something in common with the rapper-- they've made St. Louis a thriving music scene.

Joey Kline, music lover, and former St. Louis resident had this to say about the up and coming band:

The Black Swan is the name of Nassim Nicholas Taleb's (essayist and scholar) book on unpredictable events. It's also the title of the new Story of the Year album – their third overall and first on the indie punk label, Epitaph. Worried? Don't be. Story of the Year has not gone and pulled a "Mars Volta" on us. Many lyrics deal with outrage at current political and social issues as well as the concept that human existence is insignificant in comparison to the universe as a whole, as evidenced by song titles like "Apathy is a Deathwish", and "Message to the World". If this sounds a bit mature for a Story of the Year album, it is. But, the album never gets preachy, and it is ultimately what a collection of songs from Story of the Year should be – a whole lot of fun.

The St. Louis quintet paired with John Feldman, long-time friend and producer of their first album, Page Avenue, to man the boards for The Black Swan, and this is a good indication of what can be expected. Whereas their second album, In the Wake of Determination, found Story of the Year injecting more metal-influenced passages into their unique pop-punk formula, on the new album they combine the melodies of Page Avenue with the best riffs from their second LP. "Choose Your Fate" is one of the heaviest and best songs the band has ever written. "Wake Up" is what we've come to expect from a Story of the Year single – big guitars and a soaring chorus. The album continues with addictive riffs, a healthy dose of vocalist Dan Marsala's signature mix of impassioned singing and guttural screaming, and even a spoken word interlude based on the writings of Carl Sagan.

Story of the Year is arguably best known for their explosive live show which features flips, throwing guitars back and forth, and jumping off amplifiers. They've penned another thirteen songs that will be a great addition to their already extremely energetic concerts – just be careful in the mosh pit. Key tracks: "Choose Your Fate", "Apathy is a Deathwish", and "Welcome to Our New War".

Outburn magazine adds that Story of the Year is rocking the vote this year. You can check out their review online, or check out Story of the Year for yourself at Vans Warped Tour. Thanks Story of the Year, for rocking the vote!

A Letter From Heather

Hi there.

This is my first time writing for the RTV blog. There is a lot I want to say, so picking one thing to focus on is hard and a lot of pressure. I guess I will start with my day today. I just got back from taping a segment for the Newshour (on PBS). First of all, they film in HD, so they put fancy makeup on you before you go on air. And by fancy I mean, they AIRBRUSHED my face. That could have been the highlight, but the segment made the makeup room experience look dull. On the show, I did a discussion with a set of young people, each supporting a different candidate, moderated by Judy Woodruff. It was amazing. I do a lot of talking on television these days and I always say that young people are engaged, concerned for their future, and organizing like hell right now--building a real movement that is going to change how politics run, our democracy, and the direction of our country.

Today, as I sat there, I didn't need to say a word. These amazing, smart and talented young people said exactly what they were thinking, feeling, and seeing, and it proved my point better than I ever could. I left really proud of our generation and even more convinced that we will make change happen, regardless of what barriers they throw in our way. Check out the show on Monday if you can.

I also left reminded that we are all so inspired to take action by voting this cycle because things are truly screwed up. Yet, there are so many things that I believe we can change, if we act collectively. The primary one is our democracy. The concept of a government of and for the people is lost when the people have no say. Right now so many special interests with huge pockets books control not only who gets elected (as it takes money to win), but also what policies get passed. As the great organizer Saul Alinski said, there are two sources of power in our country, money and people. We might not have the money of the special interests, but we sure as hell have the people. There are 45 million 18-29 year olds. There are millions more who believe as we do. MY theory is that there are two sources of power in this country, money and people THAT VOTE.

Decision makers are elected and ultimately accountable to those two things. This year, as people with votes, we need to elect the next president. If that doesn't work, then we do as our constitution instructed and take to the streets. But first, lets realize our power as voters. I love the fact that, regardless of age or class or race or wealth, we all have one vote. We are all equal in the voting booth. This is our time to take our country into our own hands, and be the ones in power. We are off to a great start. With turnout amongst 18-29 year olds hitting record rates and outnumbering older voters in many states. Keep it up, tell your friends, build this movement, our movement, and I promise to amplify your voice as a collective generation through my media appearance and here in DC.

OK, more to come, but I will end my first blog post here. Register at our website (www.rockthevote.com) now if you haven't or you have moved recently, and get ready to rock the vote.

Yours,
Heather
---

Heather Smith, Executive Director
Rock the Vote

Flobots Rock the Vote

I just got some pictures from the Flobots concert in LA on Tuesday, with Rock the Vote, KROQ, Virgin Records and MySpace.



Rock the Vote volunteers were on hand to register dozens of new voters.



Thanks Flobots, for rocking the vote this week! For more info about Flobots check out our Featured Artist profile.

Washington Times: Youth Vote Ignorant

Today, syndicated columnist Suzanne Fields published an editorial in the Washington Times bashing young voters, citing a post I wrote on this blog a few days ago.

Titling her column "Rock the Ignorance," Fields first ridicules Obama, Clinton, and McCain for reaching out to young voters, and then:

"That all sounds good, but we've got to hope these younger voters know enough to understand what the debate is about. The young have been short-changed by the educationists for decades, not learning very much. The millenials, the under 30s, grew up reprising the lyrics of "Don't Know Much About History.""

Apparently, we're all too ignorant to vote, is the premise here. And what's more:

"How much they don't know about Middle Eastern politics is especially worrisome. Are they even prepared to understand what President Bush was talking about last week, when he told the Israeli Knesset, "Some seem to believe we should negotiate with terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along?""

Now, I'm not going to argue about textbook reform, which is the main point of the rest of the column. I haven't been in school in eight years and don't have kids, so can't claim expertise on that issue.

But I'm very much going to take issue with the idea that young adults are too ignorant to grasp the big issues of the day. Given that today's 18-29 year olds are the most educated generation in American history, are reading the news at increasing levels, have access to the Internet and its vast resources in growing numbers, and are getting involved in issues and politics in ways we've not seen in decades - I'd say we're doing an OK job of being informed.

And speaking as the "young voter" (I'm 30) who wrote the post - I am well aware of the significance of the Knesset speech. I'm well aware that what happened at the Knesset was a remarkable departure from a 60-year-old standard originally agreed to by two venerable Americans, President Harry S. Truman and Senator Arthur H. Vandenberg, to keep foreign policy criticisms between elected officials within our shores. As noted in a column in The Hill:

"It is a tradition for a sitting president not to confuse partisan politics with foreign policy. We can have intense debates within our borders, but we don’t carry them overseas. We especially do not air our partisanship in a politically charged atmosphere, such as the Israeli Knesset, where it may well inflame passions in the complex and dangerous environment of the Middle East. Yet that is exactly what President Bush did."

Speaking as one young(ish) voter, I can assure the columnist I get the importance of what happened last week. And I also get that foreign policy is complicated and that politics can be complicated. And I get that there are troubles in how our education system prepares us to understand these things.

But please don't use my generation as the scapegoat. American democracy is founded on the amazing idea that "We the people" should be the voice of government. Of course we're not all scholars and none of us is perfect, but I believe in my heart of hearts that "we the people" is the best form of government in the world. That it's the good sense of American voters - young, old, and in between - that makes our country great and one of which we should be incredibly proud.

Why Voting Matters

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!

Victory!

A few days ago, Rock the Vote teamed up with a coalition of organizations - The National Network on Election Reform - to urge Governor Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas to veto a bill that would have required all Kansans to show a government photo ID and present proof of citizenship in order to vote.

Props to Governor Sebelius - on Tuesday, she vetoed the bill! This is a great move for voting rights. As the National Network letter commending the Governor stated:

“[This bill] would have disenfranchised thousands of eligible Kansas voters by requiring them to show a government photo ID in order to vote and present a birth certificate, passport or naturalization papers in order to vote. It is estimated that approximately 107,000 Kansans lack a birth certificate or passport. In a time when our country is experiencing an overwhelming voter turnout, we should be discussing ways to ensure access to the ballot, not limit it.”

And as an editorial in the Wichita Eagle stated:

"...the bill is a solution for the nonexistent problem of voter fraud in Kansas that could deter voting by legal residents. In her veto message, Sebelius stated her confidence in the ability of Secretary of State Ron Thornburgh's office and county election officials to keep elections "secure and fair" and argued the bill would discourage and likely disenfranchise voting by citizens without such ID cards. "I cannot support creating any roadblock to prevent our citizens from adding their voices to the democratic discourse that makes our nation great," she said."

A number of states are considering similar laws this year. I hope more follow the lead of Kansas - as well as Missouri - in protecting all eligible Americans' right to vote.

Text message reminders of state registration deadlines

Thousands of people download voter registration forms every day from Rock the Vote, but they don't necessarily know the voter registration deadline for their state. We're all busy and it can sometimes take people a few days or weeks before they print and mail the registration form. One of the programs we've been testing at Rock the Vote is the use of text messages to remind young people of their registration deadline. Our early evaluation results from the primaries indicate that these SMS reminders boosted registration rates of our registrant list by about 4% points!

In Pennsylvania 68.4% of the treatment group was registered compared to 64.5% of the control group, so the text message reminder increased registration rates there by about 3.9 percentage points. In Indiana the reminder boosted registration by about 4.1% points. When we combine these two tests and add statistical controls we find that the average increase of 4.1% points is statistically significant (i.e. the increased registration is probably not due to random chance).

It appears that text message voter registration reminders can have a big impact on motivating people to send in their registration forms, presumably because voter registration deadlines are not well-known. This result is in line with related research conducted in 2006 which found that text messages were an effective Get Out the Vote (GOTV) tactic - increasing turnout by about 3% points among new registrants.

Want to translate your mobile list into political power? Make sure they're registered to vote and send them a reminder of their state's registration deadline. Then do a GOTV blast on Election Day.

Details on the Methodology: In order to test these reminders we take the list of people who have opted-in to our mobile program (powered by at&t) and randomly assign them to treatment and control groups, similar to a clinical drug trial. We send the text message reminder to the treatment group but not the control group, saying something like "Reminder: [your state]'s registration deadline is March X, so be sure to send in your registration form by then." Afterwards we look on the voter rolls and see if the treatment group is registered at a higher rate than the control group. If so, it means the program worked, but if they have about the same registration rate it may not be worth the cost of sending the text messages.

Triumph!

Voting rights activists should be celebrating last week's victory in Missouri. From Missourians for Fair Elections:

In a victory for all voters, Missouri lawmakers ended this year’s legislative session without a final vote on legislation that could have prevented up to 240,000 Missourians from voting. The proposed change would have altered Missouri’s constitution, allowing for strict citizenship and government-issued photo ID requirements that would make Missouri one of the toughest states in the country for eligible, law-abiding citizens to register to vote or cast a ballot.

This phenomenal group of activists made over 4,200 phone calls to state legislators, asking them to protect the rights of 240,000 Missouri voters who would have been disenfranchised by this new law.

This is the kind of action we all need to be taking this year. As we work to register two million young voters, we need to make sure all our votes will count this November. Thanks to Missourians for Fair Elections for leading the way.

Tim McGraw Rocks the Vote

Who doesn't love a little country?



Tim McGraw recently kicked off his tour bringing Rock the Vote along for the ride! We had a great time registering voters in Florida.

Come find us at an upcoming Tim McGraw concert. Check out www.timmcgraw.com.

Vote for Human Rights Here in the US

If you haven't already, be sure to read The Washington Post's four part series on the violations facing those undocumented immigrants being held in detention centers across the country.

Most of these people are working-class men and women or indigent laborers who did something illegal (but rarely something that poses a threat to national security). Others are asylum seekers (I doubt being drugged and denied medical care was the type of asylum they were seeking).

The basic conditions in some of the detainee facilities are so bad that they've led to a multitude of preventable deaths. From the WaPo:

Some 83 detainees have died in, or soon after, custody during the past five years. The deaths are the loudest alarms about a system teetering on collapse. Actions taken -- or not taken -- by medical staff members may have contributed to 30 of those deaths, according to confidential internal reviews and the opinions of medical experts who reviewed some death files for The Post.

According to an analysis by The Post, most of the people who died were young. Thirty-two of the detainees were younger than 40, and only six were 70 or older. The deaths took place at dozens of sites across the country. The most at one location was six at the San Pedro compound near Los Angeles.

But don't just get heated: do something about it. Register to vote and choose the legislators who have the power to protect human rights. And in the short term, write your Representative and tell them to support the Detainee Basic Medical Care Act, which guarantees adequate and timely medical care to detainees. Tell them you're young. Tell them you vote. Tell them this is unacceptable.

I Voted, Will You?

This past year, I turned 18 in Washington, DC, and I voted.

If there was one thing I realized this past year living in the Capital, it was the growing realization of how much we are all growing up. We are concerned about getting jobs, not only after we graduate, but also now while we are in college. We are worried about how quickly our weekly expenses are adding up. We are doing our best to save our environmental resources, but it doesn't seem to be nearly enough. Food and gas is emptying our wallets. We have friends and family going to war. The more we look at the world around us, the more these issues are becoming real for all of us.

Politics and history and economics and any of these abstract terms can sound boring, until they are happening to you. The older we get, the more we have to face adult problems, adult issues - because sooner or later we have to face it, we are all becoming the adults. In a few years, we will all be completely in control of our own lives and responsible for the choices we make. For now we can have faith that we will have the knowledge and information to make the right choices, or we can do what we can to educate ourselves about the issues.

And more so, we can educate ourselves on the people who will be making decisions about those issues for us. Now that I am 18, I am taking responsibility - because for the first time in my life, I have a say in who is in that Oval Office or any other office deciding the most important aspects of my life. They will decide if I am drafted to go to war, who I can and cannot marry, and how as a whole we can help the environment. I am the youngest of all my friends and this year I was the last one to turn 18. But when the primary came around, I knew it was my time to have a say. This fall, I will once again exercise my power to choose.

This year's election is probably the most historic election we will ever have the opportunity to be a part of. We are young, and that has power in itself. But not only are we young, we are creative, original, innovative and strong. We have voices and opinions that command respect. And for the first time in history, young voters are a key demographic to winning this race, which means, we have a say, and it is any politician's job and goal to appeal to our interests.

We have the power and we hold that power in the ballots we cast. Register to vote so that we all can wield that power, together.

Young Voters are the New Pink

Or the new orange? The new indigo?

I can't keep track, but either way, point is that the youth vote's hot this year. Presidential candidates can't seem to get enough of us:

• Barack Obama has made youth vote outreach an integral part of his campaign, beginning in Iowa and on down to Indiana. From the early days of Students for Barack Obama and the "million-strong" Facebook group, to recent efforts in IN and NC and the launch of Vote for Change, the Obama campaign has embraced the youth vote in 2008.
  

• John McCain is vowing to fight for the youth vote. His campaign manager, speaking in April to GOP leaders from around the country, said "we've got to go after this segment" in 2008, and Senator McCain has announced his intention to "contest every youth vote" in November.
  

• Hillary Clinton ramped up her youth outreach going into the New Hampshire primary. Key players in "Hillblazers" and other youth outreach efforts have been her daughter, Chelsea Clinton, and celebrities America Ferrera and Amber Tamblyn, and youth outreach has been a part of the campaign right up to yesterday's West Virginia primary.
  

This is new - and awesome. I've never seen presidential campaigns not only TALK about the youth vote, but actually put time and energy into getting out to our campuses and communities.

And you know why they're doing it - it's because you're voting, you're taking action, and you're building power for the Millennial Generation. You voted in big numbers in 2004, big numbers again in 2006 - and then you blew it all out of the water with double and triple turnout in the 2008 primaries!

Let's keep it up this November. Make sure you're registered to vote, make sure all your friends are registered to vote, too, and get involved - join a Rock the Vote Street Team or volunteer, and be a part of the Year of the Young Voter.

Rock the Vote on One Tree Hill

Last night, all of my worlds collided in the form of a television show. The Monday night episode of One Tree Hill “Hate is Safer than Love,” premiered on the CW. It featured angst, beautiful people, great music and Rock the Vote.

In case you missed it, a brief recap: at the beginning of the winter season Peyton discovered new talent in the form of a girl named Mia, played by singer Kate Voegele. Throughout the season, we’ve seen Mia record an album and go on tour (which is really happening for Kate, signed with MySpace Records). Monday’s episode has Mia getting a great opportunity to record a Rock the Vote PSA.

Staring straight into a camera, sporting a classy black RTV t-shirt she says that it has been a year of firsts for her…recording an album, going on tour, and mostly importantly the first time she can vote. She goes on to conclude that while she uses her voice daily, voting is a way for all people to use their voice, “so use it. Let it be heard. Rock The Vote.”

In addition to this, three key members of the cast shot a “real” Rock the Vote PSA. We hope you all enjoy it. And, let us know…is this a year of firsts for you? The first time you’ve agreed with a candidate, the first time you haven’t lived at home, the first time you’ve been able to vote, or maybe you are just now registering to vote. No matter what it is for you, we hope you’ll be voting in this election cycle, first time or twentieth time.

ROCK THE VOTE!

I Vote Because...

If you haven't noticed yet, we've got a poll going on our new site.

http://www.rockthevote.com/take-issue/

Why are you voting this year?



We heard from musicians at South by Southwest. Now we want to hear from you. It just takes a second to tell the world why this election matters to you.

Six Million Loud

Rock the Vote's latest tally shows that 6.4 million of you have voted in primaries and caucuses so far in 2008, an incredible 2.2 million more than in the last comparable Democratic (2004) and Republican (2000) primaries.

Way to go. And the cool thing is that the 2.2 million is a lowball, because we can only compare your turnout in states that kept track of turnout in 2004 or 2000. So it doesn't even include your awesome showings in Pennsylvania, Indiana, North Carolina, and a few other states where we know young voters rocked the polls.

Kentucky, West Virginia, and Oregon - you going to keep it up? Find out upcoming election dates or more info here.

Vote Tomorrow on New GI Bill

Approximately three-quarters of the men and women serving our country in Iraq and Afghanistan are under 30 years of age, part of the Millennial Generation we highlight here on this blog so often.

They're also part of that same generation that's having a devil of a time making ends meet, not least due to the rising cost of college and increasing burden of student loans.

So I wanted to give you all the heads up that tomorrow, the U.S. House of Representatives will vote on a bill that would expand the G.I. Bill for veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

The bill has broad support. In the Senate, the effort to expand the GI Bill is led by Jim Webb (D-VA) and Chuck Hagel (R-NE), both veterans; in Congress, nearly 300 members have expressed support for the bill.

From Bob Herbert's column in the issue:

Reinvigorating the GI bill is one of the best things this nation could do. The original GI Bill of Rights, signed into law by President Franklin Roosevelt in 1944, paid the full load of a returning veteran's education at a college or technical school and provided a monthly stipend. It was an investment that paid astounding dividends. Millions of veterans benefited, and they helped transform the nation. College would no longer be the exclusive preserve of the wealthy and those who crowned themselves the intellectual elite.

What do you think? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

If you'd like to contact your member of Congress before tomorrow's vote, you can find them and their contact information here.

Rocking the Hoosier-Heel Primary

Nice - all you out there in Indiana and North Carolina rocked the primaries again yesterday, making up significant portions of the electorate in both states.

Young voters' continued surge at the polls even impressed the most skeptical political reporters - for example, in today's Washington Post column "The Hoosier-Heel Primary: Winners and Losers," young voters are listed as one of yesterday's big winners:

Young Voters: No age group has been more ridiculed for their lack of participation than those under 30. But in Indiana that age group comprised 16* percent of the overall vote while those 65 or older comprised 15 percent...

You're making our generation a huge story this election year. From Monday's USA Today cover story "Young Voters Poised to Flex Electoral Muscle" to an article entitled "Young Voters Hold the Key" in the Nation today, we're making our mark on the 2008 elections.

West Virginia, Oregon and Kentucky - you're next!

*Updated to 17% last night. w00t!

Up By 12% and It's Only May

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'.

Good Move for Voting Rights

Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you'd like to vote in an upcoming election, but when you try and register you find out the registration deadline has passed?

There are eight states where this doesn't happen - these states allow eligible citizens to register right at the polls on Election Day. (called Election Day Registration or EDR)

These states have some of the highest rates of voter participation, including among young voters. In 2004, turnout in EDR states was 74%, compared to 60% in non-EDR states.

Wouldn't it be nice if all states were like this?

Later this week, Senators Russ Feingold (WI) and Amy Klobuchar (MN) and Congressman Keith Ellison (MN) are introducing the Election Day Registration Act, a bill that would make EDR a reality in all states.

From Senator Feingold's press release on the bill:

“The right to vote is at the heart of our democracy, and we should constantly be looking for ways to make it easier for Americans to exercise that right,” Feingold said. “Election Day registration has worked well in Wisconsin for more than 30 years and is a major reason why Wisconsin is a national leader in voter turnout. By allowing people to register in person on Election Day, we can bring more people into the process, which only strengthens our democracy."

Following the Supreme Court's shameful decision to uphold Indiana's strictest-in-the-nation voter ID law, this is good news for voting rights. We'll keep an eye on it as it progresses.

For more information on EDR and to find out what the rules are in your state, check out Demos, Progressive States Network, or info from electionline.org