Rock the Vote & Sí TV Partner For Network’s ‘Stop Bitching, Start Voting’.

Recent polls have shown voter dissent at an all-time high over the war in Iraq, yet during the 2000 presidential election only 36.1 percent of registered voters ages 18 to 24 actually voted. Motivated by these startling statistics, Sí TV, the English-Language Latino network, is assuming a take-no-prisoners stance and telling its viewers to “Stop Bitching, and Start Voting.” As part of its get-out-the-vote initiative, the network has teamed up with Rock the Vote to reach Latinos across the country.

In connection with the partnership, Sí TV will join Rock the Vote’s Bus Tour, designed to promote voter registration and turnout among young people. Sí TV will be supporting Rock the Vote on numerous tour stops including San Marcos, Arlington, Miami, St. Louis, Minneapolis, and Detroit.

Sí TV’s “Stop Bitching” campaign was created by education and children’s advocate, former presidential appointee Ana Valdez, with the goal of encouraging voter registration and turnout among young Latinos. To boost awareness Sí TV will cross-promote Rock the Vote on its website via a co-branded voter registration site and will run Rock the Vote public service announcements in tandem with the network’s own “Stop Bitching, Start Voting” PSAs.

“It is so important for Latino youth to learn the value of voting,” Valdez stated. “You hear people complaining about the government and the war, but these are the same people who don’t vote. Voter apathy is at an all-time high; we want to change that.”

To illustrate that point, Sí TV will air its own PSAs depicting everyday people complaining about the government. An off-camera interviewer inevitably asks, “Do you vote?” to which the response is “no.” The PSAs will run in heavy rotation on the network as a way to challenge the 38 million Latino citizens in the U.S. to exercise their right to vote in this year’s presidential election.

Rock the Vote’s president, Jehmu Greene added, “We are very excited to be partnering with Sí TV. Mobilizing young Latinos is essential to achieving our goal of turning out 20 million young people to the polls on Election Day. Si TV is in a position to greatly assist us in reaching this young, assimilated Latino demographic.”