Bulletin News

09/25/2012 

Tonight’s “Rock the Vote!” concert is both a grand finale of recent efforts to register new voters and an opportunity to get those who have not yet registered to fill out the forms.

So far, 1,050 SUNY Cortland students have registered. The goal is to secure at least 1,500 voters by Friday, Oct. 12, the last day to register for the Nov. 6 election.

Tying in with National Voter Registration Day (NVRD), the local New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG) affiliate is sponsoring the event from 6 to 8 p.m. on the steps of Corey Union.

Colleen Kattau, associate professor of Spanish, will perform, as well as cast members from the Performing Arts Department’s fall semester play “Spring Awakening.”

“This is an open, non-partisan event, as we will be looking to register as many people as possible on campus and in the community,” said NYPIRG Project Coordinator Amanda Carpenter.  “We are working very closely with the Institute for Civic Engagement, Student Government Association, Campus Activities, and other groups on campus to register students to vote, and get them involved in the political process.”

NYPIRG is taking a lead role in organizing NVRD, which is being held for the first time. By joining forces with grassroots organizations, the public interest group will be engaging tens of thousands of new voters from across the nation and generating excitement about participating in the political process.

NVRD encourages affiliates to host voter registration drives in communities and on college campuses. In the weeks leading up to the event, NYPIRG conducted voter registration training for people looking to get involved. 

For more information about NVRD, visit NYPIRG’s website.