Rock the Vote
Rock the Vote is a US non-profit organization that aims to sensitize young people in the United States in particular to politics and to encourage them to participate in elections. To do this, the organization uses modern media and relies on popular supporters in commercials and major events such as music concerts.
background
The association was founded in 1990 in Los Angeles to curb the trend of the declining number of young voters in national elections since the 1970s. More young people registered in the 1992 presidential election than in the previous elections . Propaganda Films and the Fox Broadcasting Company received the Peabody Award for the campaign .
Before the presidential election in 1996 , the organization established the option of registering elections and specifically set up the telephone numbers 1-800-REGISTER and 1-800-ROCK-VOTE for this purpose . In addition, with NetVote '96 , an online portal was set up for the first time, which - under a different name - was expanded into one of the most important registration options in the following years.
In cooperation with major TV channels such as MTV and CNN , the organizer regularly organized events and discussions with politicians in the years that followed. In 2000, the organization launched the Rap the Vote campaign in collaboration with Russell Simmons .
Following the 2004 presidential election , the organization ran into financial problems, but was able to stabilize again in the following years.
criticism
The impartiality of the organization is regularly discussed. Many of the artists appearing in the Rock the Vote events are partly openly committed to the Democratic Party . In the run-up to the 2004 presidential election, for example, Pearl Jam or the Dixie Chicks also appeared in the Vote for Change campaign , which called for a change of government and supported presidential candidate John Kerry .
In 2004, the organization also sent e-mails calling for a report on election day using the logo of the Ministry of Defense and a reference to the Selective Service System . This has been viewed by conservative critics as a misleading campaign to frighten young men about being drafted into the army. Similar criticism also arose in the 2008 presidential election when publications were perceived as one-sided. In addition, Hans Riemer, who took over the management of the organization in 2007, switched to the organizing committee for the Barack Obama campaign in 2008 .