Taylor Swift’s recent endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris and her call for fans to vote caused a surge in traffic to voter registration resources, drawing hundreds of thousands of people to the tools needed for civic participation.
On Tuesday, Swift took to Instagram to urge her followers to get involved in the upcoming election, including a link to Vote.gov, a site managed by the General Services Administration and the Election Assistance Commission. The impact was immediate: within 24 hours, approximately 406,000 people clicked the link she provided, accounting for over half of the 727,000 visitors to the site between Tuesday and Wednesday. Before Swift’s post, Vote.gov had averaged only around 30,000 visitors per day.
Vote.gov serves as a centralized hub, directing potential voters to their state-specific registration websites. Since registrations do not occur directly on the site, it’s unclear how many of these visitors completed the registration process. However, the spike in interest underscores Swift’s powerful influence.
Other voter registration organizations also experienced a sharp increase in traffic following Swift’s call to action. Vote411.org, run by the League of Women Voters, saw its number of users double since Tuesday, and the site reported a shift in demographics as well. Typically attracting older users, the most significant traffic after Swift’s post came from the 18-24 age group.
“Whenever a celebrity uses their platform to encourage civic participation, that’s a win for democracy,” said Celina Stewart, CEO of the League of Women Voters. “We applaud Taylor Swift for encouraging Swifties and fans to research candidates and issues this election season.”
Similarly, Vote.org, another prominent voting resource, experienced a nearly sixfold increase in use of its tools for registering or verifying voter registration between 9 p.m. and midnight Eastern time on Tuesday. That evening coincided with a political debate, as well as the timing of Swift’s post around 11 p.m. On Wednesday, the organization reported that it helped over 27,000 people register to vote and assisted more than 80,000 in verifying their registrations, substantially higher than their daily averages.
Andrea Hailey, CEO of Vote.org, emphasized the significance of Swift’s involvement: “Taylor Swift’s impact on voter engagement is undeniable. The important thing to remember is that Taylor’s work serves as a model that everyone with a platform can use to encourage Americans to participate in civic engagement.”
In her post, Swift revealed that she would be voting for Vice President Kamala Harris. However, she encouraged her fans to register and participate in the electoral process, regardless of their preferred candidate. Swift’s efforts highlight the profound impact celebrities can have on political engagement, particularly among younger demographics.
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