Florida part of Rock the Vote initiative

The Ramones, Madonna, will.i.am and Robert Downey Jr. gave their support to Rock the Vote.

Now, the non-partisan, nonprofit organization is asking for Floridians' support at its first Florida Rock the Vote Meeting and Launch Party.

The event will begin at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Ember in Downtown Orlando. It will gather volunteers to be part of campus and community street teams that will register voters for the upcoming elections.

One UCF organization that will give its support is the College Democrats.

Director of Public Relations Lindsey Wellington said the group met Rock the Vote representatives at the Alex Sink Kick-Off event on June 5 and realized they had a common goal.

"We realized we're doing the same things, like voter registration," Wellington said. "It's something we strive to do every day."

Rock the Vote has made voter registrations its goal for nearly 20 years. In 2008, 2.2 million young adults used its tools to register to vote, according to the organization's website.

The organization hopes to once again make the youth vote heard in the upcoming elections by launching kick-off events in five states: Colorado, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida.

The College Democrats at UCF thinks this event is important because it will raise awareness about the upcoming elections and will get people excited because few people are interested in it, Wellington said.

"Most people don't know what the government does in their lives," Wellington said. "If they did, they would pay closer attention to it."

In 2008, there were 44 million people between the ages of 18-29 eligible to vote, and about 4.9 million voted in the primary elections, according to Rock the Vote.

Wellington said most students are not interested in politics but that they would be if they realized that issues such as student financial aid are being discussed in the Florida Legislature.

"Their funding could get cut," Wellington said. "If they're not registered to vote, they can't make an impact on the people that will make a difference."

Rock the Vote's Florida State Coordinator Blaire Yancy said  some people don't register to vote because they're not in the habit of doing it, though they should be.

"Voting is a wonderful right we have in this country, to participate in our democracy," Yancy said. "One I hope all young people will be a part of it by filling out a simple form."

Yancy also added that there's a misconception that young people don't vote.

The 2006 mid-term elections had over 2 million more young voters than the 2002 elections, and that figure has been steadily increasing.

The meeting and launch party is important for the upcoming elections since it will gather people from the community that share the same goal, Yancy said. They'll be able to meet each other, form friendships and build volunteer teams.

Yancy said Florida was chosen as one of the five states for the kick-off events because it has many universities with young people that need to be registered.

She has already found UCF students to be "engaged and well-informed" on her recent visit to campus.