There’s been a huge increase in voter registration since Taylor Swift’s call to action
Taylor Swift just reminded us how powerful a single voice can be. On October 7th, Swift endorsed two Democratic candidates in her home state of Tennessee via Instagram, and in just 24 hours voter registration across the country spiked—by a lot.
Kamari Guthrie, Director of Communications at Vote.org, told Buzzfeed News that the site saw a massive 65,000-person uptick in nationwide voter registration since Swift posted to Instagram.
Guthrie noted that this was a major increase when compared to voter registration on the site in September and August—meaning the mega-celeb may make a significant impact on the upcoming November 6th midterm elections.
"In the past I’ve been reluctant to publicly voice my political opinions, but due to several events in my life and in the world in the past two years, I feel very differently about that now," Swift wrote in her caption. "I will be voting for Phil Bredesen for Senate and Jim Cooper for House of Representatives [...] So many intelligent, thoughtful, self-possessed people have turned 18 in the past two years and now have the right and privilege to make their vote count."
Swift then plugged Vote.org and urged her of-age followers to educate themselves on their state’s candidates and make the decision that most lines up with their values.
Guthrie also noted that Tennessee registration spiked drastically after Swift’s post. This month, the state saw 5,183 new registered voter—with 2,144 of them registering within the last 36 hours.
"Thank God for Taylor Swift," Guthrie said.
Swift has chosen a crucial time to step into the political sphere. A potential transition from the current Republican majority in the House and Senate could make the next two years look extremely different (and hopefully a lot less scary).
As Swift also noted, today, October 9th, is the last day to register to vote in the state of Tennessee. Sign up to cast your ballot here if you have’t already.
