Rock The Vote is working to rock the political worlds of America’s youth.

The national campaign, which is urging young people to vote in the upcoming election, has gotten more than 900,000 people to download voter registration forms from its website, said Jehmu Greene, president of Rock The Vote.

Greene, who has appeared on CNN Inside Politics and NBC News and has provided commentary for the New York Times and Time Magazine, hosted an exclusive online chat with college journalists Tuesday. The conference featured a question-and-answer session on college students and their voting rights.

Rock The Vote is a nationally coordinated effort to get out the youth vote in the 2004 presidential election. Greene said he is confident Rock the Vote will reach its goal of getting at least 20 million young people to vote Nov. 2.

“Rock The Vote is doing everything we can to push these voters out, and it’s up to the candidates to pull them to their side,” he said.

Greene said in the past, many students have not been asked to register by parents, teachers or political candidates, which explains the low registration rate.

“That has changed this year,” Greene said. “Students are more engaged and candidates cannot afford to ignore them.”

Greene attributes the increased student interest in voting to the war in Iraq, the job market and the rising cost of college.

Greene noted Rock The Vote is working to consistently communicate with everyone they register via phone, text message or visits to residence hall rooms.

Rock The Vote and Pace University will release information about new voters shortly, Greene said.

“I think there will be some new information about where these voters stand,” Greene said. “Other polls sure aren’t calling cell phones to ask their questions — I think they miss young voters.”

Greene spoke enthusiastically about the role of celebrities in Rock The Vote’s efforts. They can help draw attention to the importance of voting and the election’s big issues, he said, adding, “In a lot of ways we live in a celebrity driven society — and they help to get massive media attention.”

The entertainment community has been particularly driven this year, Greene said, noting among those helping Rock The Vote are bands Maroon 5, which attended the Democratic National Convention, Hoobastank, Snoop Dogg’s 213, LL Cool J and Q-Tip.

“Even Jada Pinkett-Smith has been registering voters at churches with us in Los Angeles,” Greene said.

He paid special tribute to the Dixie Chicks, who helped launch the “Chicks Rock, Chicks Vote” campaign and online voter registration tool.

“We have now had over 700,000 people download voter registration forms since the chicks helped kick it off — a perfect storm of new voters about to make their mark on Nov. 2,” Greene said.

Greene listed registration as the biggest obstacle in getting out the youth vote. He cited research showing 70 percent of registered students actually turn out to vote, emphasizing the importance of educating new voters on the issues at stake.

Most important, he said, is getting political candidates to ask for the youth vote by addressing issues of interest to young people.

Greene criticized the major news networks for not adequately covering issues of concern to young voters.

“We’ve seen up to four times the amount of coverage compared to the 2000 election, but I do not think the media has paid adequate attention to addressing the issues that are top-of-mind for young voters,” Greene said.

He added the media is responsible for forcing the candidates to address issues that directly impact the younger generation of voters.

“Rock The Vote looks forward to highlighting [the concerns of young voters] and inspiring this generation to change the world,” Greene said.

While he said he appreciates efforts like Rock The Vote, UW junior Pat Elliott is skeptical of their influence.

“I think those campaigns demonstrate how important voting is and they keep the election as a topic of discussion, but I don’t know that they convince people to vote that otherwise wouldn’t have voted,” Elliott said. “I have a hard time believing that someone on the street or a concert is going to inspire someone to believe strongly in the election.”