Rock the Vote On the Ground in New Hampshire
Young voters made history in Iowa last week with record turnout to the caucuses. Defying all expectations, 17-29 year olds tripled their numbers at the caucuses, propelled the winners to victory, and made the country sit up and take notice.
Now it’s New Hampshire’s turn, and Rock the Vote and young volunteers in New Hampshire are working on the ground and online to make sure the momentum continues. The trend has already begun in New Hampshire: in the 2004 New Hampshire primary, 31,000 18-29 year olds voted, up significantly from 20,000 votes cast by 18-29 year olds in the 2000 primary.
Nationwide, turnout of 18-29 year olds went up in both the 2004 and 2006 general elections. With unprecedented turnout in Iowa and the energy on the ground in New Hampshire, 2008 is shaping up to be the third consecutive election in a row with increased young voter turnout.
What We’re Doing: Outreach on Facebook, flyering at the Dartmouth College campus, ads online and in student newspapers, radio DJ reminders to vote, and toolkits for high school teachers and principals to get their students out to vote.
Our Goal: We’re seeing an unprecedented amount of energy and action from young adults this election. In New Hampshire, we’ll increase young voter turnout again, and keep building momentum to a historic 2008 election.
We saw in Iowa that when candidates court young adults, they vote in powerful numbers and can be the winning edge in an election. The youth vote is the group to watch in New Hampshire ‘ and throughout 2008.
Media: Rock the Vote’s media spokespeople on the ground in New Hampshire will be tracking young voter turnout and mobilization activities, and will be available for comment the day of and days following the primary. Contact Kat Barr at 202-236-4865 for interviews and with questions.
For more on Rock the Vote and young voters’ recent historic turnout in Iowa, see www.RocktheVote.com. Check our site frequently for updates from the field and the latest news of young voter turnout in New Hampshire!
About Rock the Vote
Rock the Vote’s mission is to build the political clout and engagement of young people in order to achieve progressive change in our country. Rock the Vote uses music, popular culture and new technologies to engage and incite young people to register and vote in every election. And we give young people the tools to identify, learn about, and take action on the issues that affect their lives, and leverage their power in the political process. Rock the Vote is creative, effective, and controlled by nobody’s agenda but our own– we tell it like it is and pride ourselves on being a trusted source for information on politics. We empower the 45 million young people in America who want to step up, claim their voice in the political process, and change the way politics is done. www.rockthevote.org.