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Cable Industry Launches “Countdown to Youth Vote”


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PSAs, Online and Phone Hotline Resources Encourage Minority Youth To Vote in Upcoming Election

With the candidates for President and Vice President of the United States now officially nominated, the cable industry today announced it has launched “Countdown To Youth Vote,” a continuation of its “Our Time to Vote” non-partisan voter education and registration campaign.

Designed to increase voting in diverse communities, “Countdown to Youth Vote” focuses on increasing voter turnout among multicultural youth, ages 18-29.

On Tuesday, November 4, Americans will vote not only for a new President and Vice President, but also for all 435 seats of United States House of Representatives, 35 U.S. Senate seats, 11 Governors and countless state and local races. The minority youth vote has received much attention this year because of the unique impact it could have -- more than 6.2 million African-Americans ages 18-29 will be eligible to vote, as will over 5.6 million Latinos in the same age range, according to Rock The Vote, one of Comcast’s partners in the “Countdown to Youth Vote” campaign. Additionally, according to the National Council of La Raza, based on U.S. Census data, young Latinos are the largest and fastest-growing racial or ethnic subset of young adults, with 50,000 young Latinos turning 18 each month and Latinos making up 17% of the youth electorate.

“Providing resources encouraging our youth to be involved in the electoral process is paramount to our future,” said U.S. Rep. Charles Gonzalez (20th district, Texas). “Youth today represent our leaders of tomorrow. The ‘Countdown to Youth Vote’ campaign is a great partnership between public and private entities to get our future leaders involved in this election cycle.”

“We are delighted to launch this campaign to encourage young people in diverse communities to participate in the democratic process and make their voice heard in this very important election,” said Comcast Executive Vice President David L. Cohen. “This campaign is an extension of the longstanding commitment by Comcast and the cable industry to empower youth to take an active part in their communities.”

The “Countdown to Youth Vote” campaign includes four new multicultural public service announcements (PSAs). The PSAs feature celebrities such as America Ferrera, Ana Ortiz, Kristi Yamaguchi and Ray J. “Our Time To Vote” provides online resources for youth to access voter information from several partner organizations: Rock the Vote, Asian and Pacific Islander American Vote (APIAVote), Hispanic Federation, the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), the NAACP National Voter Fund, and the National Association of Latino Elected Officials Education Fund (NALEO), as well as two nationally-available voter education resources: the www.ourtimetovote.com webpage, and a voter information resources hotline, 1.866.544.VOTE. Additionally, the Comcast Foundation provided more than $2 million in grants earlier this year to several of the partner organizations.

“Young people are deciding their future this election season, turning out to the polls in record numbers,” said Heather Smith, Executive Director, Rock the Vote. “‘Countdown to Youth Vote’ builds on this momentum and, through the media, allows us to expand our reach to specifically target diverse young men and women.”

The PSAs will launch nationwide September 10th on Comcast, Cox, Time Warner and Charter Communications cable systems and air through November 3, the day before the national general election.

The PSAs were taped by Comcast at the Asian Excellence Awards, the Black Entertainment Television (BET) Awards and the National Council of La Raza’s ALMA Awards. The PSAs can be viewed at:

http://comcastcreative.com/video/vyvMulticultural2008.wmv
http://comcastcreative.com/video/vyvAsian2008.wmv
http://comcastcreative.com/video/vyvHispanic2008.wmv
http://comcastcreative.com/video/vyvAfricanAmerican2008.wmv

“This comprehensive campaign continues to make a strong impact in the communities we serve,” said Susan Gonzales, Vice President, Comcast Foundation, and Corporate Senior Director of Federal and External Affairs. “Our community-based partners will continue their efforts to reach out and educate their constituencies about what it means to vote. It’s a great pleasure to be working with all of them on this important effort.”

“This election has proven to be a historical event and our youth are making a difference in our election,” said Greg Moore, executive director, NAACP National Voter Fund. “The ‘Our Time to Vote’ campaign is an extraordinary campaign providing resources for diverse youth to be more engaged in the political process.”

In addition to “Countdown to Youth Vote”, digital cable subscribers of Comcast, Cox, Time Warner, Charter Communications and other cable systems can access a wide array of election information and convention coverage through the Elections ’08 platform within video on-demand service, including speeches, voter education and historical addresses.



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