During the 2008 election year, “Vote or Die” became a major social movement. Now, the 2012 election has one of its own. The aptly titled National Voter Registration Day on Tuesday was a mass movement to get people registered to vote for the presidential election.
According to the campaign, 6 million people were not able to vote in 2008 because they didn’t know how to register to vote or they missed the deadline. Volunteers were spotted on college campuses, in transit stations (including MARTA in Atlanta), sidewalks and various other places with registration forms. The campaign also prided itself on being non-partisan.
“We don’t support or endorse any candidate or issue. We’re strictly non-partisan,” the campaign said on its website. “That means when you agree to participate, you agree that you won’t tell other people how to vote. We’re about democracy. We don’t care how you vote, just that you do vote!”
The movement was endorsed by scores of people, including celebrities, various companies and human rights groups. The Congressional Black Caucus was one of the proponents of this movement, especially in light of a slew of voter identification laws that have passed across the country.
“The Congressional Black Caucus is committed to ensuring that no eligible voter is turned away from the ballot box during early voting and on Election Day,” the CBC said in a statement.
Rappers Havoc (of Mobb Deep) and Black Thought recorded videos for YouTube.
National Voter Registration Day, like other most millennial movements, also had a strong social media presence in addition to its own website. The campaign provided graphics to be posted as profile pictures and links that allowed people to tweet celebrities like Lady Gaga and Selena Gomez to ask for support, in addition to links that allowed people to send mass emails.
