One of the latest prints I did was for the organization Headcount.org. Headcount.org is a non-partisan organization that registers voters at music festivals and concert events throughout the year. I caught Andy Bernstein, Headcount.org's founder, just after returning from Rothbury Music Festival. "We registered 764 voters at Rothbury, which is our second best festival since Bonnaroo, where we registered 1,145.", says Bernstein.
I asked Andy when he decided to start the organization. "I remember a moment when I was getting really angry after watching some news and I thought to myself; I have to do something instead of just getting mad" That's when he came up with the idea of signing up concert attendees to vote. "This is something I could do", says Bernstein who is a lifelong music fan. "I got in touch with my friend Marc Brownstein from The Disco Biscuits, who helped me get Headcount.org started in 2004"
"I really didn't know anything about registering people to vote before this", admits Bernstein. "I'd say 85% of the research for the organization was done ourselves". We get some pro-bono legal help and also get a lot of help from Fair Elections Legal Network", he continues. "We also have about 2,000 very dedicated volunteers, 100 of which are very active!" He goes on to tell me about how much respect and love he has for the generous volunteers. "The youth vote is the swing vote", he tells me. The volunteers register people from the major political parties as well as independents. "We are on tour with Pearl Jam, John Mayer and Jack Johnson this year", says Bernstein. "These bands give us access to many more rock and roll fans who may not be yet registered to vote"`
