For
Immediate Release: October 25, 2007
Contacts:
Michael
A. Mauro, Iowa Secretary of State, 515.281.8993, sos@sos.state.ia.us
Sujatha Jahagirdar, Iowa PIRG's New Voters Project, 323.309.6120, sujatha@studentpirgs.org
Kat Barr, Rock the Vote, 202.994.9528, kat@rockthevote.com
Des Moines – Today Iowa Secretary of State Michael A. Mauro, Rock the Vote,
and Iowa PIRG's New
Voters Project announced a joint nonpartisan effort, Rock the Caucus, to encourage young
voter participation in the 2008 Iowa
presidential caucuses. Endorsed by both the Iowa Democratic and Republican parties, the
program will use an educational curriculum, volunteer leaders, and peer-to-peer
outreach to mobilize high school and college students to the January caucuses.
"Rock
the Caucus will mobilize a new generation of caucus-goers in Iowa," stated Iowa Secretary Michael A.
Mauro. "Through this exciting new partnership – which pairs high
schools and college campuses with non-profits and the state – we can set our
youngest citizens on a lifelong path of political engagement."
Rock
the Caucus will secure pledges from high school seniors and college students to
caucus and bring their friends to the caucuses. In high schools, Rock the Vote,
the Iowa Secretary of State, and participating teachers and administrators will
participate in a Mock Caucus and implement the Rock the Caucus curriculum to
teach new potential caucus-goers how the process works and encourage them to
bring their friends along; on college campuses, Iowa PIRG will recruit hundreds
of "Caucus Rock Stars," student leaders who will get 20 of their
peers to pledge to caucus and help to turn them out to the caucuses in their
hometowns or near their college campus.
"Across
the nation, young voters turned out in large numbers in the 2004 and 2006
general elections – the first step to continuing that momentum in 2008 is
mobilizing young voters in Iowa's first-in-the-nation caucus," said
Heather Smith, Executive Director of Rock the Vote. "We're thrilled
to work with Iowa Secretary of State Michael A. Mauro and Iowa PIRG to tap the
voting power of young adults in Iowa
and continue the recent trend of growing young voter participation."
For
more information about Rock the Caucus visit www.rockthevote.com
and www.iowapirgstudents.org.
Young Iowans, according to recent polling, appear to be up for
grabs among the leading contenders on both sides of the aisle: young Democrats
are most supportive of Hillary Clinton (40%), Barack Obama (23%), and John
Edwards (15%), and young Republicans are most supportive of Mitt Romney (22%)
and Fred Thompson (24%), followed by Rudy Giuliani (9%), John McCain (9%), and
Mike Huckabee (9%). Given the fluidity
of voter choice among the Iowa
electorate, all candidates have ample opportunity to court young voters as the
caucus nears.
"Young
people will vote if they are asked to," said Sujatha Jahagirdar, Iowa PIRG
New Voters Project Program Director. "It's up to the candidates to
sit up, take notice, and reach out to young voters."
Polling
from Rock the Vote finds young adults are engaged in the 2008 elections, but
need to hear from candidates on top issues, including education and college
affordability, jobs and the economy, health care, and Iraq. "Young voters
need to hear real answers and concrete plans this election. By hitting
the pavement in Iowa,
we'll ensure that this demand is heard loudly and clearly at Caucus time,"
concluded Jahagirdar.
For more information about Rock
the Caucus, see:
www.RocktheVote.com and www.iowapirgstudents.org
About the Secretary of State:
Among many duties, the Secretary of States office is
the state commissioner of elections and supervises Iowa 's 99 county auditors in the
administration of our election laws and administrative rules. To find out
more about the 2008 Iowa
Student Caucus go to: http://www.sos.state.ia.us
About Rock the Vote:
Rock the Vote, founded nearly twenty years ago in response to a
wave of attacks on freedom of speech and artistic expression, coordinates voter
registration drives, get out the vote events, and voter education efforts --
all with the intention of building political power for our nation's youth. In
the 2004 election cycle, Rock the Vote registered over 800,000 people to vote,
the largest nonpartisan youth voter registration drive in the country. Building
on that success, in 2008 Rock the Vote will register two million 18-29 year
olds to vote and help continue the recent momentum of growing young voter
turnout. www.rockthevote.com
About Iowa
PIRG's New Voters Project:
Launched in 2003, Iowa PIRG (Public
Interest Research Group) and the Student PIRGs' New Voters Project is the
largest national non-profit, nonpartisan youth voter mobilization effort. Since
2003, the project registered more than 600,000 young voters and made more than
650,000 personalized Get Out the Vote contacts leading up to Election Day to
turn out young voters. A recent analysis
found that in
Iowa , young people contacted by the Student PIRGs' New Voters Project turned
out at a rate 13 percentage points higher than a group of
demographically similar individuals. www.newvotersproject.org
