Northern California debuts 'hip hop' voter bus

 [IMAGE]voter-bus-full.jpg[/IMAGE] Alameda County and Oakland-based AC Transit are hitting the road with a voter registration bus that’s been re-designed to draw more potential voters — particularly young adults — into the elections process.

AC Transit and Alameda County are setting out to register as many voters as possible, using a voter registration bus with an eye-catching, “hip hop’’ design.

The bus will travel throughout the county to make registering to vote for the November election as easy as possible.

The 40-foot bus was officially unveiled at a kickoff event at the Alameda County Administration Building. It won rave reviews from Alameda County supervisors, hip-hop spoken word artists and a host of young people, some of whom actually boarded the bus to register to vote.

The exterior of the bus — with individual images of young people and the theme, “Your Voice. Your Power. Your Choice. Your Vote’’ — was created after consultations with youth groups interested in updating the bus in ways that would attract a younger demographic.

The spacious bus is equipped with chairs and tables to allow potential voters to complete registration forms in a comfortable place.

Rows of passenger seats have been removed to provide voters with extra space. In addition, there is a lift on the bus to provide handicapped access.