By Steven J. Horowitz
Senior Music Writer
Just before Instagram went down, Taylor Swift took to her Stories to encourage her 282 million followers to get out and exercise their right to vote on Super Tuesday.
In a post, the pop star implored eligible voters to head to the polls to support candidates that best align with their interests. “Today, March 5, is the Presidential Primary in Tennessee and 16 other states and territories,” she wrote. I wanted to remind you guys to vote the people who most represent YOU into power. If you haven’t already, make a plan to vote today. Whether you’re in Tennessee or somewhere else in the US, check your polling places and times at vote.org.”
Though Swift doesn’t make any explicit endorsement in the post, she’s historically been influential in getting fans into the voting booth. In 2018, she made her first public endorsement of any candidate with a post on Instagram, an event that she explored in her 2020 documentary “Miss Americana.” The post had a rippling effect on fans, referred to as the Taylor Swift effect, as 169,000 people registered to vote in the 2018 midterm elections in the two days after she shared her message.
In 2020, she endorsed President Joe Biden and spoke out against President Donald Trump, who was then in office. Swift has continually encouraged fans to register to vote, and last September, her post on Instagram led to a surge in registrations on Vote.org where, at the time, the website was averaging 13,000 users every 30 minutes.
At the polls, fifteen states are staging caucuses or GOP primaries today. In addition to Tennessee, where Swift moved when she was 14, voters can cast ballots in Alabama, Alaska, California, Maine and more.
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