Young voters are registering at record-breaking rates weeks after Taylor Swift linked voter registration resources to her viral social media endorsement of Vice President Harris. 

On National Voter Registration Day, which occurred last Tuesday, Vote.org saw more than 150,000 registrations, the largest number ever recorded by the platform on that day. For comparison, in 2023, the platform registered 279,400 voters for the entire year. 

Even more notable is the age cohort driving the spike. According to data from Vote.org, 81 percent of voters who registered on Tuesday were under the age of 35. Narrowing further, 11 percent of those registrations were by voters aged 18 — a figure over two times greater than what was seen four years ago. 

“We’re really seeing a surge in 18-year-olds registering to vote.” the chief executive of Vote.org, Andrea Hailey, told USA Today. “We know that we can onboard the next generation of voters into our democracy if we can get people to register and get out to these elections.”

According to historical trends, the registration spike is likely to carry through to voter turnout. Vote.org said that about 80 percent of those that registered on their platform in the past actually cast ballots in the subsequent election.

“Taylor Swift’s impact on voter engagement is undeniable,” Ms. Hailey said in a separate statement. “The important thing to remember is that Taylor’s work serves as a model that everyone with a platform can use to encourage Americans to participate in civic engagement.”

The initiative taken by young voters comes just a few days after Ms. Swift took to social media to publicly cast her support for Ms. Harris and urge her followers to register to vote. “I’ve done my research, and I’ve made my choice,” she wrote in a post on Instagram. “Your research is all yours to do, and the choice is yours to make.” 

She also directed her followers to “vote early” which she said she finds to be “much easier.” The “Shake It Off” singer also noted that she would add a “link where to register and find early voting dates and info.” Her post, which was published on September 10, has racked up over 11 million likes. 

The link she added was to Vote.gov — not to be confused with non-profit Vote.org — a website run by the federal General Services Administration and the Election Assistance Commission. 

In just 24 hours, more than 400,000 people used her link to visit the government-backed voter resource site — a figure greater than half of the total 727,000 visitors, a spokeswoman from the U.S. General Services Administration said in a statement provided to the New York Sun. During the previous week, the website averaged 30,000 visitors per day. 

Just a day later, the pop sensation doubled down on her plea to the public while accepting a Video of the Year award at the MTV Video Music Awards. “This is a fan-voted award, and you voted for this, and I appreciate it so much,” she said to the crowd. “And if you are over 18, please register to vote for something else that’s very important: our presidential election.” 

Ms. Swift’s fans tend to be younger and more liberal than the average American. While youth voter turnout remains low, rates have been rising over the past decade, making the cohort an important target in the 2024 election. 

Before President Biden stepped down from the race, polls indicated that President Trump was gaining ground with younger voters. However, much of that momentum reversed after Ms. Harris became the nominee.

According to a New York Times/Siena College poll released last week, 58 percent of likely voters aged 18-29 support Harris, while 37 percent prefer Trump. In contrast, when the same poll was conducted back in July, 48 percent backed Mr. Biden while 45 percent supported Trump.