DENVER, CO - February 12 - The New Voters Project, Voter Virgin, and the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network declare Valentine’s Day to be Love Your Vote day. Celebrating the power of Love, Unity, Diversity, and Democracy; these three organizations will combine forces to excite young people and encourage them to register to vote. Throughout the country, the New Voters Project, VoterVirgin, and the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network will host a series of events, parties, and rallies to reengage young people in the political process.

Over 28 million eligible voters between the ages of 18 and 24 years old could be a powerful voting bloc in the upcoming elections. In the Iowa caucuses, participation of young voters was almost double from 2000, and they voted in greater numbers as a percentage of their age group than older voters. “If young people register to vote, and go to the polls, we can have an impact on our Democracy and get our voices heard,” said Kate Sargent, a student at the University of Colorado in Colorado Springs. “This Valentine’s Day, we are helping our friends and neighbors love their vote and become more engaged.”

Appropriately themed t-shirts, pens, and temporary tattoos will be given away to those who register to vote in the days prior to and on Valentine’s Day. “Its time for all first time voters to make a date with Democracy” said Annie Stewart of the New Voters Project, who is organizing the Valentine’s Day registration event at the Portland State University campus. “This is a great way to register other young people to vote, and have some fun.”

Voter registration events and rallies, decked out with the Love Your Vote theme, are happening in nearly 40 cities around the country. Rock the Vote, MTV’s Choose or Lose, the WWE’s Smackdown Your Vote! and other organizations will be recognizing Love Your Vote at events throughout the nation.

Love Your Vote events are taking place in the following cities:

California: Los Angeles * Davis

Connecticut: West Hartford

Colorado: Denver * Boulder * Ft. Collins * Colorado Springs * Pueblo * Greeley

Florida: Orlando

Indiana: Bloomington

Iowa: Des Moines * Iowa City * Cedar Rapids * Cedar Falls * Ames

Massachusetts: Amherst * Haverhill

Missouri: St. Louis

Nevada: Las Vegas * Reno

New Jersey: New Brunswick

New Mexico: Albuquerque * Las Cruces

Ohio: Oberlin

Oregon: Portland * Eugene * Ashland * Corvallis

Wisconsin: Madison * Milwaukee * Green Bay * Cedar Rapids * Cedar Rapids * Eau Claire * Oshkosh * Stevens Point * Lacrosse

ABOUT THE NEW VOTERS PROJECT

The New Voters Project is working in Colorado, Iowa, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, and Wisconsin to contact more than 1 million 18-to-24-year-olds and register more than 265,000 to vote. The scope of the project, combined with strategies of peer-to-peer contact and an aggressive Get out the Vote (GOTV) campaign, will directly engage young people and change the dynamic of the upcoming presidential election. The New Voters Project has financial support from The Pew Charitable Trusts, numerous partnerships representing the media, cultural movements and academics, and a prestigious advisory committee that includes President Gerald Ford and Vice-President Walter Mondale, former RNC Chairman Frank Fahrenkopf, Jr. and former DNC Chairman Don Fowler. By bringing young people to the polls, the New Voters Project will reverse the downward trend in the voting habits of 18-to-24-year-olds and force politicians to focus on this normally neglected constituency.

Website: www.newvotersproject.org

ABOUT VOTERVIRGIN

VoterVirgin is designed to stimulate dialogue and create a culture of fun around first time voting. www.votervirgin.com provides a variety of ways to register and recruit new voters with a smile. 100% non partisan and preach free, VoterVirgin opens the door to engage a broad spectrum of participation.

Website: www.votervirgin.com

ABOUT THE HIP-HOP SUMMIT ACTION NETWORK

Founded in 2001, the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network (HSAN) is dedicated to harnessing the cultural relevance of Hip-Hop music to serve as a catalyst for education advocacy and other societal concerns fundamental to the well-being of at-risk youth throughout the United States. HSAN is a non-profit, non-partisan national coalition of Hip-Hop artists, entertainment industry leaders, education advocates, civil rights proponents, and youth leaders united in the belief that Hip-Hop is an enormously influential agent for social change which must be responsibly and proactively utilized to fight the war on poverty and injustice.

Website: www.hsan.org

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