Ashanti Rocks The Youth Vote

Grammy-Winner Helping Organization That Registers Young Voters And Tries To Get Them To Polls; Chats With Dave Price

(CBS)  One of the major factors likely to play a large role in the outcome of the presidential race Tuesday is the turnout of young voters.

Rock the Vote knows all about that. The organization says it "works with artists to grab the attention of young people," focusing on registering them to vote and getting them to head for the polls on Election Day. It tries to engage them via free text messages with voting reminders, polling place locators, election news and more.

"Whether it's Madonna wrapping herself in the flag for the first Rock the Vote PSA or Snoop Dogg launching our bus tour in 2004, Rock the Vote works with artists who really believe in and promote our mission," the group says.

RTV blew away its ambitious goal of registering 2 million young voters this election cycle, reaching 2.5 million, more than doubling the number it registered four years ago.

Grammy-winning singer and actress Ashanti is among the stars helping Rock the Vote, and told Early Show features reporter and weather anchor Dave Price RTV's efforts matter to her because, "My family definitely has deep roots, with the whole Civil Rights movement, so I've always been taught voting is so important, especially for young people.

"Rock the Vote is so cool. They reach out to young people, and they hooked up with AT&T, and they kind of make it simple for you to vote. You can register right on your phone. So I think that's really, really cool and very important. We need change!"

Ashanti says the youth vote will definitely make itself felt this time because they "know that this election will determine their future. They have the most at stake."

Michelle Mayorga, head of Rock the Vote Mobile, told Price, "We're talking to young people the way they want to be talked to. So, I think you've seen a lot of text messaging going on that you haven't seen before, and you're gonna see an unprecedented number of young people moving out to the polls" Tuesday.

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i just want to applaud the music industry for taking the lead in getting there fans out to vote. this will be the first time for many voters and they will be part of history. finally we will be part of the american dream. we will be able to show our children that they can be whatever they want to be. they will be able to see someone who looks like them on the white horse. for so many years when we looked at the american dream we saw men and women who did not look like us. so whatever the outcome i am proud of this day because i thought i would never see it in my lifetime.