Rock the Vote returns to the campus area on Oct. 16

 

Rock the Vote, its colorfully wrapped bus and its message of voter involvement are heading to the campus area for an outdoor event on Tuesday, Oct. 16.

It will take place where the State Street Mall meets the north end of the East Campus Mall, entirely on city property. The event runs from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.

This will be the third time that Rock the Vote has visited UW–Madison in a presidential election year in an effort to get students to register to vote and to cast their ballots.

Rock the Vote also visited the campus in 2004 and 2008. Its mission is to engage and build political power for young people around the country.

“We use music, popular culture, new technologies and grassroots organizing to motivate and mobilize young people in our country to participate in every election, with the goal of seizing the power of the youth vote to create political and social change,” according to the group’s website.

Rock the Vote was founded 21 years ago at the intersection of popular culture and politics, and since then it has registered more than five million young people to vote.

“This is both the challenge and the opportunity,” according to the group. “Rock the Vote is dedicated to building the political power of young people by engaging them in the electoral process, urging politicians to pay attention to issues that matter to young voters, and protecting their fundamental right to vote. Our goal is to reinvigorate our country’s democracy and redefine citizenship for a generation in 2012 and beyond.”