NEWS
MTV’s ‘Rock the Vote’ draws thousands
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by John Potratz
Monday, October 18, 2004
MTV's Rock the Vote tour made its final stop of the year at University of Wisconsin's Library Mall on Friday to register student voters and motivate them to get to the polls on Election Day.
Thousands attended and nearly fifteen hundred voters were registered at the crowded event, which hosted performances by Mozella, Sarah Hudson and Dan Dyer.
Hudson the singer led the crowd shouting, "Who's going to vote for John Kerry!" met by roaring ovation. She then asked, "Who's going to vote for my Bush!" followed by a mixed response.
"Honestly, [Madison] is the best one we've done," Hudson said. "Everybody is so interested and wanting to hear the music, it's been the most [crowded]."
Between acts, hosts yielding T-shirt cannons and guest speakers riled the crowd to reinforce the message of the event.
UW Chancellor John Wiley encouraged students to vote during the event by citing Wisconsin as a swing state crucial to influencing the close division between both candidates.
"Every vote counts," Wiley said. "It is the right and responsibility of every citizen to vote and we expect you to do it — On Wisconsin!"
In coordination with the UW Homecoming Committee and New Voters Project, the Associated Students of Madison helped to organize the event.
ASM, which registered over 8000 student voters before Friday, exceeded its goal of 1,000 students on the day. ASM aims to register 10,000 students before Election Day.
UW sophomore Ariane Strombom, a coordinator for ASM, was a speaker during the event.
"All of the registration we're doing is phenomenal, but what we really want to focus on is mobilization and getting you guys to the polls on Election Day," Strombom told the crowd. "If you don't vote, there's no point in [everything] we're doing right now."
Offstage, Strombom said she was satisfied with the success of the event.
"This is amazing. [Madison] is the last stop on the bus tour and should be the biggest one," Strombom said. "Rock the Vote is a huge national event and we're ecstatic that it turned out like this."
The event also offered T-shirt and food giveaways, but the significance of the event and the election was a larger focus.
"[Rock the Vote] is a good idea to get more young voters registered," Edwin Coley, UW freshman, said while eating a free Ben and Jerry's strawberry cheesecake ice cream. "There's a whole lot of young voters who aren't voting and expressing they're opinions — this is an awesome way to get people involved."
Coley added that free stuff is a good incentive, as "you can increase your wardrobe just by coming out."
UW junior Greta Hafeman said the most important aspect of the event was the cause, not the free giveaways.
"Voting is so important. The college student population is so apathetic about voting, and it's important to be here because everyone's vote counts," Hafeman said.
Wisconsin co-director for Rock the Vote, Alex Hass, said Madison was the best and biggest turnout out of all the stops,
"Madison is the most amazing city," Hass said. "The people are so into it. They're really smart and educated and really into talking to us and getting involved — it's been amazing."
