Taylor Swift urges everyone to vote: 'It's not enough to just want change ... You have to go and make change by voting'
Singer Taylor Swift has made a considerable political impact in recent months after making her political beliefs public.
On Tuesday, Swift called on her 112 million Instagram followers to get to the polls for the 2018 midterm elections in a series of videos she posted.
"So what is today? Tuesday? What was it that everyone was supposed to do today?” she joked. “Oh yeah, gotta go vote today."
She continued, “I'm seeing a lot of underestimation of young voters and this new generation, who now have the right to vote just in the last couple of years. But these are people who grew up post-9/11. They grew up with school shooting drills at their schools. These are people who want to vote.”
The pop star stressed the importance of taking action today by visiting polling centers.
“It's not enough to just want change. It's not enough to just want to vote,” she added. “You have to go and make change by voting, and today is your opportunity to do that. I promise you it feels so wonderful to exercise that right that you have.”
She also urged her fans to take a picture after they’ve voted with the hashtag “#JustVoted.”
After she posted her support for Tennessee candidates Jim Cooper for Congress and Phil Bredesen for Senate in early October, voter registration dramatically increased in Tennessee and nationally, according to Vote.org.
In the 48 hours following Swift's call to action, Vote.org received 240,000 voter registrations, including 102,000 from people aged 18-29.
On Monday, Swift reminded her followers to request time off to vote.
“Tennessee! In the state of Tennessee, you are entitled to up to 3 hours of paid time off so that you can go and vote, but you have to request your leave by noon today,” she wrote in an Instagram story.
Swift has shared photos from fans and fellow stars who have exercised their right to vote.
She also shared videos from her tour mates explaining why voting is important to them.
Her vocalist, Kamilah Marshall, said, "I think it's important to vote, for me personally, because there was a time when African-Americans couldn't vote. Now it is my right to be heard and to vote and stand up for my family and our legacy and my ancestors."
One of her dancers, Robert Green, remarked, "As a minority myself, it's really important that I use the opportunity to exercise my voice. Whether it's your ethnicity or your sexuality or your identity, this is the opportunity to ask for what you need."
