HeadCount, a nonpartisan voter registration organization which grew out of the jamband scene, has announced one of its most ambitious campaigns to date, “Push the Button.” The campaign is an innovative contest in which anyone can place a “Register to Vote Button” – a widget that links to an on-line voter registration page – onto any website and help register voters.  Each contestant receives their own button which tracks click-thrus and therefore keeps a running score of which buttons are generating the most voter registration traffic. Whomever registers the most voters will win a trip for two on Jam Cruise 7.

“Want to give people a real incentive and people want to do,” HeadCount’s Executive Director and co-founder Andy Bernstein said. “It’s a game and the web universe is a playing field.”

Contestants are encouraged to not only put the “Button” on their own web page or social networking profile, but any site on the web, from corporate homepages to music blogs. Bernstein hopes contestants will be creative and reach out to some of the web’s most highly trafficked sites. 

Bernstein says his staff will cross-reference “Button” click-throughs with their corresponding voter registration forms to determine its grand prize winner. “You can’t just click the button a thousand times. Our goal is to register voters.” He also urges contestants to "be creative" when looking for site to place their "Button" on. 

The prize package will not only include a trip for two on Jam Cruise 7, but airfare to and from Ft. Lauderdale, where the cruise will depart from on January 4.

“It is an all-expense paid trip,” Bernstein emphasizes. “We’ll even give you a ride to the airport if you want.”

Potential contestants can sign for “Pledge to Vote” at www.HeadCount.org.

“Our hope is that this will be exciting for a large number of people. We have a small army working on HeadCount on a daily basis and we hope this is an opportunity for everyone else to get involved.”