Maya Marchel Hoff, USA TODAYUpdated September 21, 2024 at 1:46 PM
(This story was updated because an earlier version included an inaccuracy.)
Voter registration is breaking records as Election Day approaches, particularly among young people, many of whom are first-time voters.
On Tuesday’s National Voter Registration Day more than 150,000 people registered through Vote.org, the most the organization has ever seen on that day. The organization registered 279,400 voters in all of last year.
Last week, 337,826 people visited a link posted on Instagram by pop star Taylor Swift that directed them to their state’s voter registration site.
Although Swift noted that she would be voting for the Democratic candidate, Vice President Kamala Harris, people don’t have to declare a party affiliation when they register and neither vote.org nor Swift tracked registrations by party. Vote.org has previously told USA TODAY that about 80% of people they register turn out in the next election.
Jon Luke Young, manager for the Get Out the Vote department of the New Georgia Project, speaks with canvassers to encourage people to register to vote in Atlanta, Georgia on May 12, 2022.
A huge percentage of the newly registered voters are young people, many voting for the first time.
According to Vote.org, voters under