Sunday, November 17, 2024

Taylor Swift’s endorsement of Harris drives 300k visitors to voter info site

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Hundreds of thousands have flocked to a voter registration website after Taylor Swift endorsed Kamala Harris in the wake of Tuesday’s debate against Donald Trump.

On Tuesday evening, the pop star posted on Instagram announcing her support for Harris in the 2024 election. A spokesperson for the General Services Administration told The Independent that as of 2pm ET on Wednesday, there have been 337,826 visitors to Vote.gov referred from the custom URL created and shared by Swift.

Vote.gov is not a voter registration website, but directs voters to their state election websites for state-specific voting information.

Given Swift’s influence — and history of success urging her followers to register to vote — her endorsement was highly coveted.

The Independent has reached out to Vote.org, a voter registration site, for information about how many voter registrations have resulted from Swift’s endorsement.

On National Voter Registration Day 2023, after Swift urged her 270 million Instagram followers, Vote.org enjoyed 13,000 users every 30 minutes. “During the day on Tuesday we saw a 1226% jump in participation the hour after Taylor Swift posted,” Andrea Hailey, CEO of Vote.org, said at the time.

Swift’s endorsement of Harris comes four years after she endorsed Biden.

This illustration photo taken in Washington, DC on September 10, 2024 shows US singer Taylor Swift’s Instagram post endorsing US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris. She has already directed hundreds of thousands to a voter information website
This illustration photo taken in Washington, DC on September 10, 2024 shows US singer Taylor Swift’s Instagram post endorsing US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris. She has already directed hundreds of thousands to a voter information website (AFP via Getty Images)

The singer-songwriter posted that she had watched the debate and made her decision.

“I will be casting my vote for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz in the 2024 Presidential Election. I’m voting for @kamalaharris because she fights for the rights and causes I believe need a warrior to champion them,” she wrote.

In her Instagram post, Swift continued: “I think she is a steady-handed, gifted leader and I believe we can accomplish so much more in this country if we are led by calm and not chaos. I was so heartened and impressed by her selection of running mate @timwalz, who has been standing up for LGBTQ+ rights, IVF, and a woman’s right to her own body for decades.”

She added: “I’ve done my research, and I’ve made my choice. Your research is all yours to do, and the choice is yours to make.”

In a jab to Trump running mate JD Vance, who called Harris a “childless cat lady” in a 2021 clip that has come back to haunt him, the superstar signed off her lengthy post as “Taylor Swift, childless cat lady.”

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