Celebrities launch voter registration drives

Queen Latifah, Sophie Okonedo, Alicia Keys, and Jennifer Hudson are taking part in a new voter registration campaign with voteforchange.com. They're trying to help Americans to register to vote, request absentee ballots, and find their polling locations.

When you enter an email address and your zip code into the system, you get a message. As of Tuesday, September 23, the message generated was: "Soon, we will have information on election day polling and in person early voting locations. Once this information is available, we'll send you an email to let you know."

Judging from the spokespersons, the voter registration campaign seems to be targeting African American women. The Obama campaign also offers state-by-state voter registration information on its main web site.

Earlier this summer, the Hip Hop Caucus launched a Hip Hop Vote 2008 campaign, featuring multi-Platinum, Grammy Award-winning artist T.I. The campaign was designed to combine "the power of celebrity and media with 21st century grassroots organizing tactics," according to organizers. The campaign slogan, "Respect My Vote!" and t-shirts were unveiled at a press event in Washington in July.

See a video below...