Taylor Swift has influenced the culture, the economy and the internet this summer and now she’s boosting voter registration.
The singer posted an Instagram story in honor of National Voter Registration Day, asking people to register to vote.
In the following hour, traffic on Vote.org spiked by more than 1,200 per cent, said CEO Andrea Hailey, contributing to a record-breaking number of visits to the voter registration website that day.
In her Instagram story — posted in the blue-and-white design scheme of her forthcoming album, “1989 (Taylor’s Version)” — Swift directed people to Vote.org.
“I’ve been so lucky to see so many of you guys at my U.S. shows recently. I’ve heard you raise your voices, and I know how powerful they are,” she wrote. “Make sure you’re ready to use them in our elections this year!”
Hundreds of thousands of people attended the Eras Tour, whose first U.S. leg ended last month in Los Angeles after 53 performances.
After Swift’s post, Vote.org began averaging 13,000 users every half-hour — “a number that Taylor Swift would be proud of,” Hailey said. Swift’s birthday is Dec. 13; she’s made 13 her lucky number and a key symbol for her and her fans.
“Let’s just say her reputation for being a mastermind is very well-earned!” tweeted Vote.org spokesperson Nick Morrow.
Swift, who has partnered with Vote.org for several years, wasn’t the only one to urge Americans to register on Tuesday. National Voter Registration Day is the largest single-day effort to register voters in the United States each year, according to the nonprofit that runs it, with events across the country.
On the social platform X, formerly known as Twitter, the nonprofit said hundreds of thousands of people had been registered to vote on Tuesday. Since 2012, the annual event has registered more than 5 million voters total. On National Voter Registration Day in 2020, ahead of that year’s presidential election, 1.5 million people registered to vote, according to the organisation.
