HeadCount.org and Over 200 Artists and Celebrities Mobilize on Social Media for National Voter Registration Day

Today, in support of National Voter Registration Day, over 200 musicians, celebrities and comedians are participating in a social media and digital campaign organized by the non-partisan organization HeadCount to help register voters. With the deadline to register to vote looming in early October in many states, entertainers such as Stephen Colbert, Mac Miller, Kathy Griffin, Jack Johnson, "Weird Al" Yankovic, Bob Weir, Killer Mike, Ani DiFranco, Kings of Leon and Questlove are posting photos and messages on social media with the #VoterRegistrationDay hashtag.

The campaign will have a social media reach of more than 400 million followers. Also announced today, Pandora will support HeadCount's voter turnout efforts by providing audio messages that enable listeners to register to vote online or by text message, through the Pandora app. Musicians lent their voices to Artist Audio Messages (AAMs) so that listeners to their Pandora station have an easy opportunity to register to vote. Participants include members of The Grateful Dead, The National, and Phish, as well as Lil Dicky,Amanda Palmer, Big Gigantic, The Movielife, Michael Franti, The String Cheese Incident, Warren Haynes (Allman Brothers Band, Gov't Mule), Guster, Disco Biscuits, Dispatch and many others. Read Pandora's announcement of the campaign HERE.

Each of the social media posts and Pandora Artist Audio Messages feature a photo of the entertainer holding up HeadCount's "Register to Vote" clipboards, directing people to register to vote online or via the brand new HelloVote chatbot unveiled last week, that allows anyone to register to vote via text message or Facebook Messenger. HeadCount is also hosting National Voter Registration Day voter registration drives in public places in over 50 cities across the U.S. today including Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Denver, San Francisco, Miami, Columbus, OH and Richmond, VA.. HeadCount's largest National Voter Registration Day event is happening in conjunction with MTV in New York City, where over 70 NYC high school students will help register voters outside MTV's TRL studio in Times Square. For a complete list of HeadCount National Voter Registration Day events, and additional upcoming voter registration and get-out-the-vote drives, visit www.headcount.org

Since HeadCount's inception in 2004, the organization has worked with musicians and the music industry to increase youth participation in democracy. With over 15,000 volunteers nationwide organizing activity at over 1,000 concerts, festivals and community events each election year, HeadCount has helped register nearly 400,000 new voters. But there is still much work to be done, specifically with younger voters. This year approximately 15.5 million Americans age 21 or under are eligible to vote in their first presidential election. And for the first time ever, more Millennials (age 18 to 34) will be eligible to vote than Baby Boomers (age 51 to 69). Still, in a review of the 2012 Presidential election, the US Census Bureau reported that 12.7 million of 18-24 year olds were not registered to vote, and only 46% of those eligible cast ballots. Additional HeadCount announcements surrounding the start of early voting, and of course, Election Day, coming soon.

HeadCount unleashes the power of musicians and fans to make a difference. Founded by a group of musicians in 2004, including Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead and Marc Brownstein of the Disco Biscuits, the non-partisan organization has registered over 360,000 voters, and have helped motivate millions of millennials to be informed, vocal citizens. HeadCount uses the power of musicians, the passion of fans and the hard work of volunteers to promote participation in democracy.

Photo Features: Amy Poehler, Matt Walsh, Ian Roberts and Matt Besser.
Photo Credit: Robyn Von Swank.

To post a comment, you must register and login.