John Legend, Darren Criss Join Rock the Vote to Encourage Youth Participation in Election (Video)

Rock the Vote, the nonpartisan group that enlists celebrities in efforts to encourage young people to go to the polls has jumped into the 2012 election cycle with a slickly produced new Internet video introduced by Perez Hilton and featuring singers John Legend, Bridget Kelly and Darren Criss.

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The short film is titled “Democracy Class: A History of Voting” and its release is timed to coincide with the observance of Democracy Day on Friday, something Rock the Vote encourages with its Democracy Class program in high school civics classes across the country.

The film superimposes the celebrities on a rapidly paced graphic history—albeit of the Cliff Notes variety—of the spread of democracy through American history, starting with the Revolution. 

The film also shows the exponential growth of participation by voters ages 18 to 29 in the last presidential election, one of the keys to Barack Obama’s victory and a development to which Rock the Vote generally is credited with making a crucial contribution. Although the video is presented as non-partisan, it's hard to imagine the celebrities involved in the piece endorsing Mitt Romney or Rick Santorum.  Legend is one of Obama's top celebrity supporters this time around.

You can see the video above.