We were overwhelmed by the creativity and passion showcased in submissions to our video contest. These young voters embraced the opportunity to inspire others and we hope they will continue to do so for many elections to come. You can see for yourself by checking out the winning video and some of the finalists right here.

We also want you to know that the work started here does not end here. All of the Vote Again 2010 partners will keep working to engage young people in the political process and you can check out their sites for resources and opportunities to volunteer.

Once again, thank you for your participation. We’re a generation that’s quickly expanding and our power at the polls and in our communities is unquestionable.

That’s the message Rock the Vote delivered in its post-Election Day press release, which noted how candidates failed to build upon the enthusiasm from recent elections and reach out to young people.

“With high unemployment and rising personal – and national – debt, young Americans face real challenges and what they saw from candidates and outside interest groups was largely disconnected and irrelevant to their lives and concerns,” said Rock the Vote President Heather Smith.  “It wasn’t just that campaigns didn’t pay enough attention to the generation that will shape our country’s future; what they did actively turned off people looking for solutions. The partisan bickering and negative ads targeted to older, angrier voters simply does not motivate youth participation.”

Rock the Vote found that in those precincts where they targeted young voters and engaged them in the political process, it made a significant difference. The organization had hundreds of enthusiastic volunteers making phone calls and knocking on doors right up until Election Day. Rock the Vote plans to continue its efforts to get campaigns to pay attention to young people through a combination of the best digital tools and field work.

An estimated 20.4% of those under age 30 voted in yesterday’s election compared with the 23.5% who voted in 2006. However, in many precincts where organizations were on the ground registering young voters and making get out the vote contacts, the number of votes cast by young people increased.

This confirms that when you reach out to them, young voters are ready to embrace becoming active participants in the political process. Vote Again 2010 partners and youth-serving organizations around the country will continue to build upon the proven success of their field models and digital strategies to work towards a future where young people are included in the conversation every election cycle.

Make your voice heard today. Get out to the polls now and vote again in 2010!

“We received so many great submissions for this contest and it was very hard to pick a winning video,” said filmmaker Jason Pollock, who judged the contest finalists. “We’re very proud of the content this contest produced. Young people were fired up in this mid-term election and the ‘Vote Again 2010’ campaign proved it.”

In addition to the winning submission, there were many more showcasing the creativity and civic engagement of young people across the country.

One runner-up video entitled “You Vote, I Vote,” featured a song about voting to the tune of Justin Bieber’s, “You Smile, I Smile.” Other finalists included a young voter who rallied his peers around passing legislation that would help facilitate peace in East Africa, a young voter making a clever comparison between voting and virginity, and a young voter honoring those who fought for voter enfranchisement throughout history.

Thanks to everyone who entered the contest and shared with us and your peers why you’re voting again in 2010. We’ll see you all at the polls tomorrow!

Check out the winner and some of the runners-up below.

THE WINNING VIDEO

“Action 2010″:

RUNNERS-UP:

“You Vote, I Vote”:

“Your Voice Matters”:

The voting and virginity video, “My First Time”:

The voter enfranchisement history video, “They Say”:

You can also share the election center tool with others by grabbing the embed code and putting it on your own website.

With tools like these, the Voting Information Project hopes to answer the three with which they believe voters most often struggle:

• How do I register or find out if I’m registered?
• Where do I vote?
• What’s on the ballot?

If you or someone you know still needs to answer these questions, give Google Election Center a try now. Make sure you’re ready to get out to the polls this Tuesday, November, 2nd.

Organizers can help voters ensure their ballots are counted by being aware of some simple State-by-State GOTV Tips that we at the Fair Elections Legal Network (FELN) have published for 12 states. For campus organizers we have 2 page tips for CO, FL, MO, NC, OH and PA. For organizations doing non-campus GOTV there are one page tips for 12 states.

These guides have information about:

• When and where early voting is occurring;

• Who is allowed to send in an absentee ballot;

• What time the polls are open on Election Day;

• What ID voters will need to present to poll workers; and

• What to do if voters have moved before Election Day

With some basic GOTV, early voting, and Election Day planning, organizers can help ensure that ballots cast are ballots counted!

Instead of the usual googling yourself and looking up celebrity gossip stories, take 10 minutes to vote on Election Day.

The group runs through much worse ways to spend 10 minutes, including looking for a parking spot at the mall, staying on hold with your insurance company to dispute a denied claim, trying to sell raw meat to people stuck in traffic, or cooking a kitten to medium well.

On the kitten note, let’s just say they name many more worse ways you could spend 10 minutes than voting this November 2nd, but we can’t really publish them here. Watch the video to hear them all, and then take their advice. Take 10 minutes and vote this coming Tuesday.

Black Youth Vote is part of The National Coalition on Black Civic Participation, a non-profit, non-partisan organization that works to increase civic engagement and voter participation in Black and underserved communities. To learn more about the group, click here, and check out their video below:

Yesterday in her blog on The Huffington Post, Rock the Vote President Heather Smith suggested that the rally shows young people are still paying attention to the political process, despite their increased cynicism due to partisan bickering this election cycle.

She believes the rally will be an opportunity for our generation to come together:

“The fact that young people identify with Stewart and Colbert’s ironic tone doesn’t mean they’ve given up on civic engagement. As they demonstrated in 2008, young people are hungry to be a part of something larger than themselves. Our recent young voter poll also showed that while young people may be more cynical about politics, an overwhelming majority of 83% believes their generation has the power to change this country. That belief will be manifested in the rally, where young people will come together on the National Mall and at dozens of satellite rallies around the country regardless of party affiliation.”

Smith concludes that events like the rally serve as a platform from which young people can make their voices heard. You can make your voice heard by pledging to vote and then getting out to the polls this coming Tuesday, November 2nd.

Photo from No Fact Zone