Respect My Vote!

About Respect My Vote! 

In 2008, the Hip Hop Caucus Education Fund launched the only major non-partisan Hip Hop voter mobilization campaign of 2008 – Respect My Vote!.  Respect My Vote! garnered significant celebrity involvement, including key spokespeople: Platinum Grammy Award winning recording artist T.I. and Platinum recording artist Keyshia Cole.

Overall in 2008, we registered 49,599 new voters, made 6,339,107 voter impressions, and mobilized 700 volunteers to donate 3,500 hours of their time for peer-to-peer outreach and canvassing.

In 2010, Respect My Vote! will operate on the ground in at least these six states: Georgia, Michigan, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio and Pennsylvania.  Like in 2008, our focus will be 18 - 39 year old non-college educated new voters, and ex-offenders who are uniformed about their voting rights.

Goals

  1. Register new voters on the ground in six target states: Georgia, Michigan, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio and Pennsylvania
  2. Educate non-college educated 18 – 39 year-olds about issues that are important to young voters.
  3. Educate ex-offenders about their voting rights, and register them to vote.
  4. Mobilize eligible 18 – 39 year-old non-college educated voters and ex-offenders to turn-out on Election Day, through a multi-platform Get Out the Vote effort.
  5. Provide election administration and election protection information to young voters, in preparation for Election Day.

Strategies

Messaging & Celebrity Participation: Celebrities will serve as Respect My Vote! messengers in popular online media, urban radio, and earned television and print media.  Their messages will raise awareness and educate our target cohort on the importance of voting, and direct people to voter registration, education and GOTV resources.  Respect My Vote! will use effective material with celebrity endorsements for grassroots outreach, including mixtapes, and barber-shop/beauty-salon hand-outs, and church fans.

Grassroots Peer-to-Peer Outreach: The Hip Hop Caucus Education Fund’s field operation in the Respect My Vote! target states will organize volunteers to register new voters, and mobilize new voters to the polls in an integrated grassroots, online, and mobile multi-platform effort.  Respect My Vote! will provide training on best practices for voter registration, education and GOTV to our volunteers in the target states.

Online & Mobile Engagement: Respect My Vote! will register voters online, nationally, on www.hiphopcaucus.org.  Through social media, social networks, the 657,000 Hip Hop Caucus Education Fund member e-list, and the Hip Hop Caucus Education Fund online social network, Respect My Vote! will disseminate educational and GOTV information.  Respect My Vote! will also replicate and expand our record setting GOTV text messaging campaign from 2008.

Projects of Respect My Vote!

Felon Disenfranchisement: There are 5.3 million people throughout the United States that have lost their right to vote due to a felony conviction. Over 2 million of these people have already completed their sentences, including any necessary probation or parole, yet remain disenfranchised.

Campaign Finance Reform: Public confidence in the integrity of our elections and elected officials has reached an all-time low.  the pay-to-play culture of corruption has become pervasive in Washington, DC and state capitols around the country, and dependence on – and fear of – special interests money has crippled our government’s ability to tackle the most pressing issues of the day.

 

GET INVOLVED with the Respect My Vote! Campaign