Rock the Vote Is Back to Fire Up Millennials

A Clinton may be headed to the White House, everybody’s talking about Pearl Jam’s latest video — and now Rock The Vote has relaunched with a brand new leadership and mission, as if we needed any further proof that the 1990s are back in vogue.

The non-profit devoted to engaging young people with the democratic process through technology and pop culture, relaunched Monday with new directors, a revamped digital presence and its most ambitious registration goals ever ahead of the 2014 mid term elections.

First founded in 1990, the organization became a household name during the 1992 elections, when it was considered a motivating factor in getting Generation X’ers to the polls. Turnout among voters aged 18-24 spiked that year.

This year, Rock The Vote plans to register 1.5 million people to vote, including 400,000 young people and 100,000 Latino voters across 15 states with large Latino populations. It is also vowing to closely follow laws that affect the youth vote, such as the proof-of-citizenship laws in Arizona and Kansas that the organization is challenging in court.

Rock the Vote is in particular targeting the more than 86 million millennials living in the U.S. A recent poll from Harvard University’s Institute of Politics found that less than a quarter of 18- to 29-year-olds say they “definitely be voting.”

“With 12,000 Americans turning 18 each day, we cannot afford to have young people sit out the political process when so much is at stake for their future,” said Ashley Spillane, Rock the Vote’s new president, in a statement.