As a Peace Corps volunteer in Slovakia, I helped to organize and implement a non-partisan campaign to get young people to vote in the 1998 parliamentary elections, called Rock volieb 98, or Rock the Vote 98.



As a Peace Corps volunteer in Slovakia, I helped to organize and implement a non-partisan campaign to get young people to vote in the 1998 parliamentary elections, called Rock volieb 98, or Rock the Vote 98.

the story of Rock volieb 98

As a Peace Corps volunteer in Slovakia, I helped to organize and implement a non-partisan campaign to get young people to vote in the 1998 parliamentary elections, called Rock volieb 98, or Rock the Vote 98. We teamed up with Rock the Vote in the US, and enlisted Slovak musicians to go on a bus-tour with us. A few months and sixteen cities later, more than 80% of first-time voters went to the polls, electing a new government and radically changing the political environment.

To date, about the coolest thing I've done in my life. Who says MTV parties aren't part of the Peace Corps experience? You can see an online report from the campaign here. Another group we worked with that you should also check out, called Volim teda som ('I vote, therefore I am), produced some great television spots targeting young voters that had a significant effect -- gaining more than $2 million in airtime.

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