MTV's ' Rock The Vote' campaign bus rolls into Oklahoma

Both presidential candidates are trying to attract undecided voters. MTV's "Rock the Vote" bus is making a swing through Oklahoma. <br/><br/>News on 6 anchor Craig Day says the goal is to register

Wednesday, October 6th 2004, 10:40 am

By: News On 6

Both presidential candidates are trying to attract undecided voters. MTV's "Rock the Vote" bus is making a swing through Oklahoma.

News on 6 anchor Craig Day says the goal is to register thousands of new voters, who could have a tremendous impact this election year.

Zach Barnes was walking across the OSU campus in Stillwater when he first heard the music, and then saw the stage. MTV's "Rock the Vote" event got a lot of students' attention. Barnes registered for the first time. "I guess it's because I'm older. And all my friends are older now. We're all growing up I guess."

Despite the threat of rain, many OSU students also registered at the event on campus. Since it began rolling in June, the "Rock the Vote" bus caravan has registered 150,000 college students.

OSU student Tamara Russell: â€œthere's a lot of stuff going on. The music. So I wanted to check it out and see what was going on." Craig Day: "And you ended up registering?" Russell: "Yeah, I ended up registering. So it worked." The Rock the Vote campaign will stop at 30 campuses altogether before the November election. It's part of an overall campaign to get millions of young people involved in the political process.

Organizers say this election year, the crowds and level of interest has been much higher than in previous elections. Angela Courtin with Rock the Vote: "537 votes determined an election. The presidential election in Florida. There are more than 537 young people here that can make that decision."

OSU student Lauren Detten: "I want college students to understand their one vote does make a difference and issues they don't think affect them actually do.â€

In the last week and a half, "Rock the Vote" has registered 40,000 young people across the country. Now the challenge is to get those who have registered to hit the polls come November.

The only other Rock The Vote bus stop scheduled in Oklahoma will be in Tahlequah. The bus will stop at NSU campus Friday from Noon until 5 PM.