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2008 Accomplishments

Rock the Vote Accomplishments

19 years after a group of artists came together with a vision of harnessing the power of music for social change, Rock the Vote is a household name at the forefront of progressive youth activism, engaging millions of young people nationwide and building the power of young adults to lead our country toward a better future. After a year of record accomplishments, we look forward to another amazing 19 years rocking the vote.

Record Young
Voter Turnout

More 18-29 year olds voted in 2008 than ever before in U.S. history.

Long Lines Check MarkOver 22 million 18-29 year olds voted, 2 million more than in 2004 and 6.5 million more than in 2000.

Check MarkYouth turnout grew to 51%, the highest since 1972.

Check MarkYoung people made a major impact on the election, voting for Barack Obama by 34 points.

Check MarkThe power of young voters made headlines from the Iowa caucuses to Election Day in November, as a force that propelled Barack Obama to the presidency.

A Historic Campaign

Rock the Vote ran the largest youth voter registration drive in history in 2008

Register to Vote ToolCheck Mark2.6 million people completed voter registrations via our online tool, grassroots efforts, and direct mail program.

Check Mark23,000 voter registration partners joined with us to register young Americans.

Check Mark251,000 voters signed up for our mobile activist list.

Check Mark5.7 million people visited our website and 1.6 million joined our email list.

Road Trip ‘08

Rock the Vote volunteers, artists, staff, and partners criss-crossed the country, promoting voter registration, education, early voting, and action, state-by-state and stop-by-stop. Road Trip 2008

Check Mark16 states. 15,000 miles. 23 artists. 100 stops. 150,000 pledges to vote.

Check MarkSolange, Eve, Murs, Taleb Kweli, Sheryl Crow, the Beastie Boys, Jack Johnson, Norah Jones, Tenacious D, Santogold, Ben Stiller, Ben Harper, Bow Wow, and more.

RTV Street Teams
in Action

From California to Virginia, RTVers led a movement from the ground up to mobilize young voters. Registering Voters

Check MarkYoung people in all 50 states joined RTV’s volunteer network, working with our field organizers to register and mobilize young voters.

Check Mark6,200 volunteers took action throughout the year, at registration drives, debates, Road Trip stops, and concerts.

Check MarkStreet Team leaders and organizers held 375 registration and GOTV events in target states.

Check MarkVolunteers organized another 700 events and registration drives around the country.

Activism, Advocacy, Education

From voting rights to human rights, RTV took action for social change throughout 2008.

Check MarkOver 21,000 RTVers took action to protect veterans’ voting rights, push for action on global poverty, and end the genocide in Darfur.

Check Mark Rock the Vote Action FundVolunteers with our sister organization, RTV Action Fund, handed out 175,000 voter guides comparing 10 U.S. Senate candidates on a range of issues, from the economy and health care to civil rights and energy.

Check MarkHundreds of young voters attended congressional candidate forums in N.C. and FL to discuss energy, Iraq, housing, the economy, gay rights and more.

Get Out the Vote!

Election CenterCheck Mark700,000 people visited RTV’s Election Center, an online hub for 50-state voter information, to find out where, when and how to register and vote.

Check MarkIn the two weeks before Election Day, RTV volunteers organized 21 early vote events and 36 pledge-to-vote events.

Check MarkVolunteers made over 10,000 calls via our Facebook phone-banking application reminding young people to register and vote on Election Day.

Check MarkOn Election Day RTV staff and volunteers watch-dogged 38 youth-dense precincts and helped stop voting rights violations in Virginia, Florida, Ohio, and elsewhere.

Rock the Vote Artists

Check MarkDozens of artists created Rock the Vote Get Out the Vote PSAs: Christina Aguilera, Adrian Grenier, Anne Hathaway, Ashanti, Samuel L. Jackson, Rosie Perez, Robert DeNiro, Fall Out Boy, Wyclef, Jamie Foxx, and Against Me! and more. Spanish language PSAs featured John Leguizamo, Juanes and Paulina Rubio.

Check MarkRTV sent 289,700 text message Get Out the Vote reminders in the 2008 primaries and general election, including an Election Day text with polling place locations in conjunction with Google.


Rock the Vote’s mission is to engage and build the political power of young people in order to achieve progressive change in our country.