New dating app question: Are you registered to vote?
From using the trendy “It’s Corn” song on TikTok to swiping right on dating apps, candidates and voting organizations are trying to win over young voters ahead of the November midterms.
“Young people now represent the largest generational voting block in the country. They’ve been showing up in record numbers in the last two elections,” said Cristina Tzintzún Ramirez, the president and executive director of NextGen America, which is the largest youth-vote mobilization organization in the country.
The 2020 election saw the highest youth-voter turnout in U.S. history, and by 2024 millennials and Gen Z will make up about 45 percent of eligible voters, according to NextGen America.
The group conducted a survey from July 27 to Aug. 7 and found an increase in motivation to vote among registered voters 18 to 35 across target states of Arizona, Michigan, New Hampshire, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin after Roe v. Wade was overturned.
Of those surveyed, 47 percent said they were very motivated to vote in November, and 44 percent said they were “somewhat motivated” to vote. A NextGen America poll from March found that 38 percent were very motivated and 51 percent were somewhat motivated.
The Institute of Politics at Harvard Kennedy School found in an April 2022 survey that young voters are expected to match 2018’s “record-breaking youth turnout” in a midterm election, and about 55 percent prefer Democratic control.
But there was also a sharp increase in youth believing political involvement often does not have “tangible results,” that voting “doesn’t make a difference” and that “politics today are no longer able to meet the challenges our country is facing,” according to the survey.
Mobilizing the youth
To encourage young voters to vote and to educate them about its importance, NextGen America is getting creative, including asking its 25,000 volunteers to get on the dating apps and swipe right.
Its volunteers are setting up profiles on apps like Hinge, Tinder and Bumble, where they match with people and ask them if they are registered to vote.
The volunteers on the dating apps can write on their profiles things like, “If you’re registered to vote, superlike me” or “Save democracy w me <3” or “Don’t be surprised if I ask you about your registration status.”
The organization encourages volunteers to have a “natural and honest conversation” before asking them if they’re registered to vote or talking about the importance of voting.
“Be honest and upfront in your conversation — don’t lead people on. We’re here to register young voters, and we want to make sure they know that!” NextGen America wrote in their flier. (Since 2013, the group has registered more than 1.4 million voters.)
Shelby Purdum, press associate with NextGen, said that the organization has not had anyone in the program get kicked off the apps, as they make sure they follow all of the guidelines. They also build conversations and connections with people rather than spamming them with links, she said.
NextGen also started its “Hot Girls Vote” campaign, a website encouraging people to vote that gives free, colorful stickers and downloadable social graphics that show enthusiasm to vote.
It also recently implemented a college athlete program connecting with 50 athletes on 110 college campuses in the organization’s target states to talk to their followers and teammates about the election, Tzintzún Ramirez said.
Athletes who are active on Instagram and TikTok share voter registration information, develop motivating voter turnout content, facilitate voter registration opportunities for their teammates and attend Welcome Week events on their campuses. The athletes cannot mention specific candidates for office, political parties or elected officials, and cannot mention or imply specific political issues or legislative policies.
Campaigns targeting the young voter
With less than two months to go until the Nov. 8 midterms, and as voting organizations encourage young people to register, campaigns have been busy trying to win their support.
Gov. Steve Sisolak’s campaign, for instance, has been connecting with young voters on social media. On TikTok, the campaign posted an “I love Nevada” video set to the tune of the viral “It’s Corn” song with different things he likes about Nevada.
@teamsisolak I love Nevada!
His campaign will also be hosting a TikTok tournament in the next few weeks to engage young Nevadans. Participants will film videos about key issues Sisolak has prioritized, and the tournament winner will win Boba with Sisolak.
Sisolak has also held multiple events with young Nevadans through both his official and campaign capacities, such as meeting with UNR young Democrats and holding a roundtable with high school student body presidents.
“Governor Sisolak is committed to hearing from young Nevadans and including their voices in his campaign. In his second term, the governor will continue advocating for policies to support the next generation by lowering costs, protecting reproductive freedom, expanding housing affordability, protecting our natural resources and making it easier for entrepreneurs to put down roots in the Silver State,” spokesperson Reeves Oyster said in a statement to the Review-Journal.
His Republican opponent, Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo’s campaign team is made up of young voters, with 60 percent of his staff being Gen Z, campaign spokesperson Elizabeth Ray said in an email. The campaign has aimed to reach young voters through targeted digital ads, texts and through voter contact outreach.
“More than any recent generation, young voters are increasingly identifying as independent,” Ray said in the email. “Sheriff Lombardo’s common-sense solutions and straight talk resonate with independent voters and young voters alike who are looking for a governor to deliver solutions instead of hyperpartisan talking points.”
Republican and former Attorney General Adam Laxalt, who is looking to oust Democratic U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, has done canvassing and recruiting at the UNLV campus to appeal to young voters. Every Tuesday and Thursday his campaign staff is at the Freedom of Speech plaza, and they canvass at every UNLV football and soccer game, his campaign said.
Laxalt’s campaign also works with local high schools to set up voter registration drives, and it will host a Young Republican Day of Action at the end of the month. It also has targeted different community events that cater to a younger demographic such as “First Friday” at the Arts District.
Cortez Masto’s campaign is reaching out to young voters through advertising on Instagram, YouTube and streaming services. The campaign also does door-to-door canvassing, and Cortez Masto recently joined a Youth Organizing Kick Off event with more than 100 students.
NextGen also found in its survey that the overturning of Roe v. Wade and the protection of reproductive rights has motivated more young people to vote.
Two in three young voters say the Dobbs decision — in which the Supreme Court ruled that the Constitution does not confer a right to abortion — has made them care more about what happens in November, according to NextGen America.
Young voters overwhelmingly oppose the overturning of Roe v. Wade, the survey found. Among young women voters, 76 percent are opposed to the ruling and 18 percet were in support. Half of Republican voters aged 35 and under also opposed the Supreme Court’s decision.
“They believe abortion is on the ballot this election,” Tzintzún Ramirez said.
Campaigns are fully aware of the importance abortion and reproductive rights will have in November. Democratic campaigns have targeted their Republican opponents, saying a vote for them will lead to further restrictions. On Tuesday, Cortez Masto’s campaign released a press release saying a vote for Laxalt is an “Automatic Vote for National Abortion Ban.” (U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., on Tuesday proposed national abortion ban after 15 weeks of pregnancy.)
In response to a question about whether Laxalt would support Graham’s proposal, his campaign spokesperson Brian Freimuth said, “this proposal has no chance to pass Congress and receive President Biden’s signature. The law in Nevada was settled by voters decades ago and isn’t going to change.” He cited Laxalt’s recent Reno Gazette Journal column in which he says that he would support a referendum limiting abortion to the first 13 weeks of pregnancy.
Sisolak’s campaign has targeted Lombardo in advertisements for his stances on reproductive rights; Lombardo’s campaign has replied that Sisolak is lying.
“Sheriff Lombardo is pro-life, but a woman’s right to choose is settled Nevada law that was put in place by the voters of this state – and only the voters can change that,” campaign spokesperson Ray said in a previous Review-Journal report.
Contact Jessica Hill at jehill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @jess_hillyeah on Twitter.
