Rock The Vote - 2008 Election

2008 Election

In 2008, RTV ran the largest nonpartisan voter registration drive in history. Using a combination of online, mobile and grassroots outreach, RTV generated more than 2.25 million voter registration applications and fueled a third consecutive increase in young voter turnout. Voter registration, education and engagement efforts included:

• Live candidate forums with young people organized in Florida and North Carolina.
• A 16-state bus tour (the Road Trip) involving 23 artists promoting registration, education, and early voting. The tour made at least 2 stops each day at campuses and communities, from rallies at Virginia Union to early vote caravans with Bow Wow at Cleveland State University. In its wake, the Road Trip left behind trained volunteers who continued the efforts.
• 6,200 active volunteers and 700 community street teams on the ground ran Do-It-Yourself campaigns nationwide, organizing registration, early vote, and Election Day events.

RTV raised awareness, provided education on the process, and motivated young people to vote through multiple Public Service (PSA) ad campaigns:

• RTV implemented several PSA ad campaigns online, on air, and in print that featured Christina Aguilera, Adrian Grenier, Anne Hathaway, Ashanti, Samuel L. Jackson, Rosie Perez, Robert De Niro, Fall Out Boy, Wyclef, Jamie Foxx, and others. Spanish language PSAs featured John Leguizamo, Juanes and Paulina Rubio.
• RTV campaigns featuring Christina Aguilera and Adrian Grenier both premiered on primetime television- NBC’s Access Hollywood, Entertainment Tonight and CNN’s Larry King Live - as well as in print publications such as US Weekly.
• RTV PSAs ran in more than 18 target markets and were aired on Comedy Central, The CW, MTV, E!, VH1, BET, Lifetime, History, Discovery, Logo, ESPN, CMT and all the major network affiliates.