2008 Woodie Awards
Celebrities urge young people to vote
Stefanie Quashnick
Issue date: 10/1/04 Section: No Limits
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Now that Election Day, Nov. 2, is just around the proverbial corner, (35 days to be exact), it's getting down to the nitty-gritty.
Oct. 18 is the last day for Californians to register to vote in the presidential elections. With little over one month until America decides whom will serve as its next president, plenty of organizations are spreading the word about just how important voting is.
Take, for example, those commercials gracing television lately, featuring women all over the country exclaiming, at the end of every profile, "But I thought the rest of America was voting!" According to the U.S. Census, 22 million single women didn't vote in the 2000 election. "Single women represent 21 percent of the general electorate and 46 percent of all voting-age women," Bitch Magazine reported in its Summer 2004 issue.
Aren't these statistics just a tad disturbing? If those 22 million women had voted back in 2004, imagine how things might have turned out. While I laughed at the commercial portraying absent-minded, ignorant women, I later realized how truly ironic it was.
Singer Ani DiFranco, in a magazine ad for her "VOTE DAMMIT" tour, poses in front of a sign saying over 100 million Americans failed to vote in the last election, which means it's certainly not all women who aren't voting.
Numerous celebrities, including David LaChapelle and Christina Aguilera, have joined up with Declare Yourself campaign, a self-described non-profit organization that aims to "energize, empower and educate a new movement of young voters to participate in the 2004 presidential election."
Through their website campaigns, a college campus music tour, commercials and "get out the vote" television concert, Declare yourself provides young people the kind of access and opportunities they are looking for. The Youth Vote 2004 survey on their website concludes that online resources are what young voters want to educate themselves on the voting process and important issues.
Oct. 18 is the last day for Californians to register to vote in the presidential elections. With little over one month until America decides whom will serve as its next president, plenty of organizations are spreading the word about just how important voting is.
Take, for example, those commercials gracing television lately, featuring women all over the country exclaiming, at the end of every profile, "But I thought the rest of America was voting!" According to the U.S. Census, 22 million single women didn't vote in the 2000 election. "Single women represent 21 percent of the general electorate and 46 percent of all voting-age women," Bitch Magazine reported in its Summer 2004 issue.
Aren't these statistics just a tad disturbing? If those 22 million women had voted back in 2004, imagine how things might have turned out. While I laughed at the commercial portraying absent-minded, ignorant women, I later realized how truly ironic it was.
Singer Ani DiFranco, in a magazine ad for her "VOTE DAMMIT" tour, poses in front of a sign saying over 100 million Americans failed to vote in the last election, which means it's certainly not all women who aren't voting.
Numerous celebrities, including David LaChapelle and Christina Aguilera, have joined up with Declare Yourself campaign, a self-described non-profit organization that aims to "energize, empower and educate a new movement of young voters to participate in the 2004 presidential election."
Through their website campaigns, a college campus music tour, commercials and "get out the vote" television concert, Declare yourself provides young people the kind of access and opportunities they are looking for. The Youth Vote 2004 survey on their website concludes that online resources are what young voters want to educate themselves on the voting process and important issues.