Free admission to Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival and an opportunity to further political participation were all in a weekend’s work for Jonathan Brothers.
Brothers, a psychology senior, is the New Orleans and Baton Rouge team leader for a voter registration organization called HeadCount. The nationwide network of more than 8,000 volunteers attends concerts and music festivals to register eligible voters.
Soon it may get even easier for University students to become involved with HeadCount’s marriage of democratic efficacy and live music. Brothers has applied to create a HeadCount student organization at the University. If approved, the student organization would be the first college club in the nation affiliated with HeadCount.
Alongside 11 other volunteers, Brothers said HeadCount was able to register 1,100 voters over the four-day music festival. Aiding festival-goers in their pursuit of exercising the most basic democratic right is the samaritans’ chief objective, but that doesn’t mean they can’t mix business with pleasure.
Brothers said the organization schedules shifts so that volunteers can watch artists perform.
“HeadCount always makes sure you can enjoy the top three music acts you want to see,” Brothers said.
HeadCount is a nonpartisan organization funded by government grants and private donations. It has registered more than 200,000 voters since 2004. The organization has partnered with more than 80 different bands and dozens of music festivals to offer volunteers free admission to most shows, according to headcount.org.
Leslie Leavoy, mass communication senior and HeadCount volunteer, said she joined the organization to increase political awareness on campus.
“It’s upsetting that voter turnout is especially low for our age group,” Leavoy said.
She said she finds it disparaging to see political activity on social networking sites that likely won’t translate to casting a ballot in November.
“Talk doesn’t matter without actually voting,” Leavoy said. “Don’t just post about it on Facebook.”
Brothers added that HeadCount encourages newly enfranchised voters to participate in local elections as well as national ones. Brothers said the key to a high-functioning democracy is an active and involved electorate.
“We can’t just concede to political disconnection,” Brothers said. “The solution starts with getting people informed and registered.”
