You know what I like about the conversation around Taylor Swift and her current political activism? I like that Tay-Tay isn’t trying to shut down any part of the conversation. When she came out two Sundays ago and dropped that Instagram and explained why she’s voting for the Democrats in the mid-terms, she was criticized by some. She was criticized for staying silent for so long, and for the privilege of her position, that only *now* does she see a reason to get involved. To my knowledge, Taylor isn’t trying to shut down those conversations or engage with them at all, which is the smart move. That part of the conversation needs to be talked about, but overwhelmingly, the reaction has been “welcome to The Resistance, Taylor.” The fact that the Snake Army feels politically agitated and engaged, however messy that might be, is a good thing.
On Wednesday, Taylor posted the Instagram above, informing her millions of fans – many of them young, voting-age women – about early voting. The Republicans are going to rue the day they messed with the Snake Fam, I am telling you. Personally, I’ve never early-voted. I like going to my poll on Election Day. I like the buzz in the air and the feeling of civil duty on a crisp November day. But that’s *my* privilege talking – I have the freedom to vote on Election Day because of the hours I work, and because CB prioritizes voting for all of us here at Celebitchy, and because I live in a wealthy, majority-white-county with easy access to polls. Other people – some of them part of the Snake Fam – do not have that same kind of access and privilege, and they will enjoy the early voting systems in their states. Voting SHOULD be this easy. But for many, it is not. I’m glad Taylor is out here, continuing the conversation and encouraging young women to vote in the midterms whenever they can, on their schedule.
There’s debate across the political, entertainment and music world as to whether “the Taylor Swift Effect” will really take hold. I say it’s already taken hold – hundreds of thousands of people have registered to vote in the past two weeks. Taylor is giving weekly messages – online and at awards shows – to remind people to vote. Plus, as I said in the opening paragraph, she’s up for this conversation. She’s here for it, she’s engaged, and she’s participating in it. I think The Tay Effect is real.
Photos courtesy of WENN, Instagram.
I vote first thing on election morning. I’m usually one of the first five people to vote. I love standing there, talking to the cop, watching the workers set up, and then the minute when the phone rings and they get the signal the polls are open. I love getting my sticker. But if early voting works for you, by all means do it. We need everyone to vote.
And please, check your voter registration today. When I went to vote in the primary last month, I wasn’t listed. Neither were my neighbors or the other resident of my home. A woman on our tiny street died earlier this year and the city didn’t just mark her dead, they marked the whole street dead. It’s easy to check. There should be a link on your state’s website for it or you can call your town’s registry. Check! Then vote!
What?!? That’s crazy! Were you still able to vote?
I checked before the primary in Sept but haven’t checked since. Thanks for the reminder, LP.
Yes. They let me do a provisional ballot and gave me a number at Galvin’s office to call, which I did immediately. Guy who answered the phone at 7:15, checked something and said the problem was at the city level and gave me the direct line to my city’s office of voter registration. She’s the one who told me I was dead. I told her that my entire street seemed to have been wiped out – there’s only 4 houses and 1 of them has no adult citizens yet – A neighbor died and they took all of us off. She put us all back on, had the poll workers put my ballot into the machine (they Skyped me to do it) and sent letters apologizing to us all. When my neighbors went later in the day, they had no problems.
Wow. Well, at least they handled it properly. Quite the f*ck-up though!
I recall reading last week after she came out as a Democrat and tell her fans to register to vote that some of the registrations were rejected because they had an electronic signature – sadly I can’t find the article now. The Reps know that there is a blue wave coming and will do whatever to fix the results in their favour.
Its now not just the Russians but the Saudi’s, who just ‘gave’ 100mil to the US gov in return for them turning a blind eye to the brutal murder of Khashoggi. You can also bet that most of that money will end up in Trump and certain members of his cabinet’s pockets.
I like early voting, but I went to the polling place yesterday and the line was crazy! I’m going to give it a few days and try again. I know it’s prejudiced against me, but I only saw old white people waiting in the line and I hope younger people do turn out because Tennessee and the nation can’t have that evil woman Blackburn in the senate.
I checked my voter registration with Resistbot. I love that thing! It makes engagement so easy.
Old white people’s votes count, too. Guess that doesn’t fit into your little agenda.
Honey bear, Tennessee is a deeply red state and most of the old white people here vote for the worst of the worst republicans, such as Marsha Blackburn. All they care about is if the candidate says they are Christian and republican. My point was that it worries me that I was the only person under the age of 50 in the line, so I’m hoping younger, progressive voters show up in the coming weeks.
Honey bear, no, it doesn’t fit her (or mine, or anyone decent) agenda. Old white people have led us into a shitstorm, so yeah- young people can save us here by voting for people who aren’t murderous, misogynist, fascist, lying scumbags (I cleaned that up a little from my initial labels). I am guessing you are an old white woman who voted for trump. bye.
Old white people do vote, they always vote, and younger people are unfortunately apathetic many times during the mid-terms and it why we have a sh*t how in DC. Boomer generation has given us horrible politicians in the last 30 years, they f’ed us when they were middle age and now they are carrying that tradition into their old age.
The majority of people I see when I vote in the morning are old white people.
Honeybear. I’m an old, white person and this marks my 50th year of voting. Every time the polls are open-primary, general, local, state, national-I’m there voting. And in all that time I have NEVER voted for a Republican. Republicans have been sh1t at least that long. Dog whistle racist, anti-union, anti-minorities of any kind except for the one percenters, anti-environment, anti-science, corporate butt lickers, etc., etc., etc. What’s your agenda?
Jerusha – you just made me laugh so hard. And that sad part is you are right!!
Please let there be a Blue wave in November…
I love voting in person, too! I’m kind of odd about it…I usually end up getting teary eyed when I vote! I try to hide the tears that run down my face before I leave the booth. I thank the volunteers profusely, etc. I can’t help it. I just think of all the people in my country who didn’t have a right to vote for so long, or those who are being disenfranchised. I think of people living under oppressive dictatorships. I feel so lucky to cast a vote.
Me too! I ALWAYS get teary-eyed and just a…rush. I absolutely love voting.
I do too. I had to vote by mail last year because I was moving and worried it would overlap election day and it would mess up where I was to go. I got a mail-in ballot again this time, but I’m probably going to the polls instead. But I too am privileged to be able to do so – they have early hours, it’s not too far away, I have a car, and I can be a few minutes late to work if there’s a line.
Easy voting should be available to ALL. It’s disgraceful that it’s not.
It’s good to know I’m not alone! 🙂
“Easy voting should be available to ALL. It’s disgraceful that it’s not.”
I totally agree. Nationwide, we should have early/extended voting. I’d support it being a national holiday, but we’d still have to expand voting periods to give an opportunity to those who don’t get time off on federal holidays.
I love that Lyft is giving people free rides to the polls.
One of the biggest problems with the US is that something like this is needed to get people out there. The citizens of your country shouldnt need taylor to tell them to vote. The things going on down there should be reason enough. Relying this much on celebs is kinda what got you guys into this mess…..
I don’t disagree. I wish more people voted. But if Taylor Swift is going to help elect people who will be a check on Trump’s power, I’m all for it.
Sigh. Should more people in the US vote? Yes, absolutely.
But please don’t say that celebs are the ones who get Americans to vote. It really does a disservice to all the grassroots and nonprofit organizations like Indivisible, Swing Left, Vote Save America, etc. that have volunteers and organizers tirelessly block walking, ringing doorbells and creating online tools to help get out the vote. These people are out on the ground busting their asses every damn day, ok? Taylor Swift’s call to action is a lot less work and a LOT less impactful.
Additionally, your comment fails to take into consideration gerrymandering, voter suppression, voter roll dropping, voting day being on a frigging TUESDAY, polling places being inaccessible and the myriad of other reasons why voting in the USA isn’t as easy as it in your country.
I wholeheartedly agree! Yes, many don’t vote. But there are many more who desperately want to vote but can’t/are denied the opportunity to do so.
Never really been a fan of Ms. Swift, but I am proud of her for using her voice to get people out there.
Both of these things can be true at the same time. I understand all the difficulties alot of Americans face, it’s not those ppl I was referring to. It’s all the swifty fans that will only be voting because taylor influenced them to that I was directing my comment to. Too many people dont inform themselves and yes it is good that she is speaking out but a celebs opinions shouldnt be someones factor in their own vote.
I don’t think admitting the impact of celebrity diminishes grassroots volunteerism (I volunteer locally and trust me, what motivates voters in my area can be very idiosyncratic bordering on “huh?!” even when we are on the same side of an issue). Whatever gets people involved is a Good Thing and if it’s Tay’s IG and not me canvassing someone’s house 3 times that makes them vote I will still be happy to drive them to the polls. We are all in this together.
I understand what you’re saying but then you should have specified that. Remember when you say “citizens of the USA”, you’re referring to 323 million people–kinda puts Taylor getting a few thousand fans to vote into perspective, no?
You say you were directing your comment at the fans who needed Swift to push them, but your original comment uses the wide phrase of “the citizens of your country.” Then, you go on to say that listening to celebs got us in this mess, so that just tells me that you really don’t understand what our mess even is at the moment, especially if you think that one of our BIGGEST problems is celebrity influence. Thanks so much for your condescending concern though.
Voting is compulsory where I live and I am relieved it is that way. Many people don’t get involved, for different reasons. As a woman whose grandmother was only allowed to vote in her adulthood, I will always go out and vote (I even plan my holidays around it to ensure I’m always within 500 km of my voting poll).
I love exercising my right to remove government and choose better. So many before me fought for that right the least I can do is take it seriously and honour it.
Where do you live? How do they enforce that? Is ID required to vote? (Sorry if I’m nosy but I haven’t heard of this and find it intriguing). If compulsory voting was in place here in the US, we might not have been stuck with Trump.
Heather, vote is compulsory in countries such as Australia and Belgium.
Every citizen is automatically enrolled when they reach majority.
Every polling station has a complete list of every voter for their area.
You just need to bring your id so they can verify your identity.
I’m not sure where Cee is from, but it’s compulsory in Australia. They enforce it by fining us if we don’t vote (not a huge amount, I believe it’s about $160, but enough to sting).
I’m from Argentina.
We have to vote with our ID and we’re given a receipt. If a citizen didn’t vote and there is no valid reason to justify being absent (example: “I was more than 500 km away from my legal address” or “I was in the hospital” etc) they’re fined both monetary and legally.
My brother was abroad during the last presidential primaries (London Rugby World Cup) and had to visit Argentina’s Embassy in London to secure justification of him being away. That’s how he managed to vote in the final presidential election.
This method is valid for every kind of election, even primaries. It ensures we always have +85% voters casting ballots.
@Cee- have you heard of Pia Mancini? Did she ever get that voting/representation app off the ground in Argentina?
@BabyJane – I have no idea who she is. Quick Google Search later, I don’t think the app took off.
I’m a TN voter and I will be voting this Saturday. My grandfather voted yesterday and my Mom is voting today. My stepdad will be voting soon to “cancel out at least one of our votes” but I explained to him what a garbage human being Marsha Blackburn is and her efforts to wipe Planned Parenthood off the face of the earth. He knows how important PP is to me so hopefully he will at least think about changing a vote for her.
Luckily there seems to be a lot of polling stations open for early voting, and in several different areas, so hopefully people who wouldn’t normally get out to vote will be able to, especially on Saturdays.
I am so grateful we have early voting in TN. I will be in Boston on November 6th so I will early vote next week. And I take my kids with me, every time. My parents always voted and always took us with them. I want them to see that it is a privilege, a right, and a responsibility to vote. The same as, the car doesn’t move until all seat belts are buckled, so it’s a habit that is ingrained. I believe kids should know that as soon as they reach 18, they vote. Find a way. And help others do the same.
My dad had the same view. He took us with him when we were little, then he would get us ice cream to mark it as a special occasion. When we reached 18, he took us to register on our birthdays. On election day, he would vote on his way home from work and would check to see if the older kids still at home had voted. If they hadn’t, we all heard about it and they were dragged down to the polls as soon as he got home. All six of us now vote in every single election, even in primaries for things like school committee in off years.
ETA my siblings are now doing the same with their kids. One of my sisters lives in NH and she has made it a point that her kids meet and question everyone campaigning for President in NH.
Ooooooo I love the ice-cream-after idea, I will use that. Thanks! And taking them to register when they turn 18. I like voting as a family. Make it a tradition that they carry with them and pass on to their own kids. The kids feel involved, and I tell them who I am voting for and why. And why it’s important. I drove over 2 hours to vote for Gore in 2000 because I didn’t change my registration address in time. It was the first time I was allowed to vote. Apathy, and the cure for it, starts at home. As an aside, to inspire hope, my middle-school kids, in TN, tell me that everybody at school that they talk to HATES Trump. And I know their parents don’t all feel this way because he won TN easily. The future may be bright indeed.
My parents made sure we grew up with a sense of awe for democracy and our right to vote. We lived in NH and met every candidate every primary season, asked policy questions, registered to vote on our birthdays, and the first time I cast a ballot when I came out of the voting booth they played Happy Days are Here Again on kazoos and we all went out to lunch. (You would think at 18 the kazoo thing would have mortified me but it was a small town and a community-spirited polling place and everyone there broke into a round of applause and it’s one of my favorite memories.)
@Jessamine, that’s a great story! So cool that they did that for you!
I always take my kids to vote since school is out and I have no other choice. They like getting a sticker and being a part of the process.
she’s still getting a pass for doing the bare minimum.
She got THOUSANDS of new voters to sign up to vote…voters who are going to vote in their BEST INTEREST because they are going to vote for Dems!
You call it the bare minimum…I call it playing the LONG GAME…and waiting to strike where she would be the MOST effective…
Why do it in 2016? HRC won the popular vote…BY MILLIONS! HRC lost because (3) Republican states voting rolls were HACKED…by 77K votes…and oh yea…RUSSIA!!!!
THIS…is when we needed her…Dems ALWAYS come out to vote in POTUS elections…I don’t need star power during those campaigns…I NEED STAR POWER DURING MID-TERM ELECTIONS…BECAUSE THOSE ELECTIONS ARE THE ONES WHERE DEMS DO NOT GET OUT AND VOTE…AND THOSE ELECTIONS HAVE MORE IMPACT ON OUR ACTUAL LIVES THAN EVEN THE POTUS ELECTION!
I have ALWAYS said…
I don’t care if there is an deformed baboon in the White House…(which we currently have)
Just give WE THE PEOPLE a super majority of Dems in the Senate/House/ Governorships…AND WE WILL FINALLY MAKE AMERICA GREAT FOR EVERYONE!
And for folks who ALWAYS wonder why elected Democratic politicians don’t push MORE progressive policies? It’s because each and every Democrat who is elected…go into their position…KNOWING that Democratic VOTERS ARE GOING TO SCREW THEM TO THE WALL AND NOT COME OUT AND VOTE IN LOCAL AND MID-TERM ELECTIONS…Which mean that LEFT leaning politicians HAVE to move RIGHT to get ANYTHING DONE! (i.e. Obamacare/FMLA/Welfare Reform under Clinton)
I watched, our country…NOT COME OUT AND NOT VOTE IN 2014…AFTER WE SAW THE HORROR OF THE TEA PARTY COMING INTO POWER IN 2010 FROM US NOT VOTING…AND US NOT VOTING IN 2010/2014…IS THE REASON WE HAVE TRUMP NOW!
There are MORE registered Democrats in this country than Republicans….and we REFUSE TO CONSISTENTLY VOTE IN EACH AND EVERY ELECTION!
This country…LAWD…this country…and its ability to NOT CARE CONSISTENTLY…
As a Black woman…who has voted/donated/worked…ALL OF HER LIFE to try and beat back the fascism I saw rising in this country the DAY that Ronald Wilson Reagan was elected POTUS…I gotta be honest…
I’m tired AF….
So when I see someone like Taylor doing what she does…
I appreciate the HELL out of it!
Well said! It drives me crazy how the R base always comes out to vote. Always. If the dem base did the same, we wouldn’t have Kavanaugh because he could not have been confirmed! Mid terms are so important and too many dems act like if it’s not a Presidential year, no biggie, why bother. Ugh!
Agreed. I’ve never liked Taylor Swift, but definitely respect what she did with this.
I love your posts Lala. You bring both the passion and the facts, and it is so motivating and inspiring!
+1 million
and what would be more than a bare minimum? being best friends with hillary or any other famous democrat? singing at their rally? I think she’s doing enough. she’s telling people they should use their right to vote and decide for themselves. she shouldn’t be convincing people to pick her side. that wouldn’t be right. she shouldn’t decide for others. people should decide for themselves if we want to live in democracy.
YES. We don’t want people mindlessly voting because a celeb tells them to. We want them to educate themselves and vote…. just as she modeled to them.
I’m not American so I don’t really have a horse in this race, but I have to question why some Democrats nitpick and complain even when they get support. I don’t see the GOP doing this. They even accepted crazy Kanye. Dems, on the other hand, seem to want people to prove themselves worthy enough to join the cause or something. I think that is incredibly counterproductive.
Agreed.
What the heck else is supposed to do, set her bra on fire in the town square and march on the WH? Start a Twitter war like Orange Marshmallow? She is doing more than most celebes are doing and at an earlier age. When women become active in poltics, people still criticize their efforts and armchair judging them, infuriating.
Well done Taylor! I like how easy it is to cast your vote here in the UK, the polls are open for a long time, you can also register to cast your vote early via post so there’s no excuse not to vote. I had to insist on my partner to cast his vote during the referendum and the recent election this year as he wasn’t going to vote as he thought it wouldn’t matter, as the same party will still win. I reminded him that if people think that way then the country is f*ck. The polling station was just a few minutes walk from us so no excuse at all, he eventually caved in and voted. I have to remind people who can vote that a lot of people don’t have the privilege of being able to vote and they should cherish, guard and exercise their right to do so.
No, it does not “need to be discussed” that she kept her personal beliefs private until now. No one is obligated to share their thoughts or feelings until they are ready. If she is comfortable doing that now, great. If she was never comfortable publicly disclosing, that was also her right.
To me, if you are a public person and nazis claim you as their Arian princess then you are obligated to shut that down. She makes millions upon millions by being a public person. She shouldn’t have chosen to stay “sooooo super private” on this one issue, especially when people of color are suffering and nazis are hailing her as their chosen one.
I couldn’t have kept quiet. I wonder if she worried it would just bring more attention to them? Remember Kerry didn’t take on the swiftboaters because he thought it was too stupid for anyone to believe. Maybe Taylor made the same mistake.
With everyone clearly seeing how bad Trump and the Republicans have made our country, it’s pretty sad that it takes a celebrity to get people off their asses to vote
I always early vote. Early voting has made it so much easier to vote and allows people who otherwise wouldn’t be able to get the time off on Election Day to vote. If our society truly valued an engaged electorate, then voter registration (just like getting your social security number) would be automatic at birth AND Election Day would be a national holiday. We drilled into our children the importance of voting and it was their civic duty and responsibility to participate in the process. Unfortunately, too many people don’t instill that in their children.
I vote absentee more often than I vote in person. It takes some time to request one, but then you get fill out your ballot in the comfort of your own home. with ample time to research everything. At least in my state you can look up your ballot after you mail it in and make sure it was counted (mine was already accepted). I know it’s not for everyone, but I like it.
Too many people don’t vote at all! How are they going to instill it in their kids? The piss poor voter turnout in the US is a constant source of frustration for me. A lot of it is apathy and just distrust in politicians and the system, which is hard to fault people for. But I still vote in every election and always enjoy it. Agree that it is sad if someone decides to vote based on Taylor Swift, but I’ll take it. Maybe it will push over some people who usually only show up in presidential election years.
Glad I live in a all mail in ballot states like here is Oregon. It is an amazing/easy way to vote. The state makes it easy to register and even easier to vote. You get about 2 weeks to think about your ballot after it arrives int eh mail, it has several security “checkpoints”, we have a paper trail to track if something did go wrong and its cheap for the state.
“If our society truly valued an engaged electorate, then voter registration (just like getting your social security number) would be automatic at birth AND Election Day would be a national holiday.”
Let’s make this happen!
Bless her if she gets people to vote.
If there’s a whole period when you can vote (which is great, because not everyone can go vote on a specific day), why is then even a voting day? Why isn’t there just a voting period?
I also vote early in my state and while I do miss the experience of going to the polls, it’s very convenient and gives me time to do any last research on props and candidates. The one thing I would suggest to all of my fellow early voters is to go online and check the status of your ballot before Election Day. My early ballot was held up for some ~mysterious reason~ that I think might have been related to my signature looking different than when I registered at 18. I had to follow up with them multiple times to make sure it was actually counted.
I’m glad Taylor followed up her first post with this, and I hope she continues to encourage people to vote in the days leading up to the election.
There have been stories that registration was already at a high before Swifty took to IG. The numbers were going to be released a couple days later.
I voted yesterday here in NE FL by mail in ballot but I dropped it off to our main elections office with my hot little hands and watched it being stamped as received. I can check its’ status via internet and they are very efficient about getting it into the system. Our county makes it pretty easy to vote and there are so many places with drop off boxes, even all the libraries.
You still get your sticker.
Do you mind if I ask where you live? I’m in NE Florida as well. Jacksonville
It’s law that your employer must give employees time off on voting day. How is that a privilege? Know your rights, people.
When I was canvassing for the abortion referendum here in Ireland earlier this year, one thing I heard over and over again from people who came out to canvass for the first time ever, to people on the doorsteps, was the need to get out and vote. We had witness what had happened in the UK with Brexit and in the US with Trump and people were so conscious of the importance of their vote, especially young people. There was a huge number of people registering to vote for the first time and most of them were young, college aged or in their early twenties. Thousands of young people went to great efforts to travel home from all around the world so they could vote, because they knew that every vote counted. The result was the largest ever turn out for a referendum in Ireland, (and a huge yes vote).
So, I know that the last two years have been really tough for Americans, and the debacle with Kavanaugh was very disheartening, but I firmly believe that young people and women will come out and vote in the November mid-terms in unprecedented numbers. It’s important to keep driving home the message that voting is so important, and certainly Taylor can talk to her audience in ways that other campaigns can’t.
One thing I talk with my husband about all the time is having an independent elections commission that is not tied to any party affiliation or anything. Have them do the rdistricts based on population, based on science etc. Have them do the polls and vote counting. In all my life living in Canada before moving here, I never once questioned the validity of the vote count because it was impartial. Also, all citizens should be able to vote, ie. criminal records (because we know who they’re trying to stop from voting).
My husband’s big cause is term limits. If we have to term limit the president, every politician should be termed as well.
Term limits for SCJs please! Absolutely insane that these people can serve for life. That being said, thank GOD for RBG.
I vote absentee because I live in fear that one of my three kids will get a stomach bug on Election Day while my husband is traveling.
But I do love voting in person and hit all the elections – primaries. midterms.
I early voted yesterday in Nashville. Got my sticker! The line was out the door. It’s always a vicious (and often losing) battle for Democrats here and in other red states. This is an industry town on steroids, with MAGA, the confederate flag and NRA themes woven into all the music products and the everyday culture. It’s not as easy as it looks for Taylor to stand up and speak out against them.
Early voting is the best. I’m planning to go this Saturday here in Virginia. There’s no way I could get to the polls on Election Day during off-hours because of my job. I haven’t to stand in line for a while, which isn’t really feasible when you’re a single mom with a 5 year old at home.
So glad Taylor is trying to encourage the youth vote!
Color me stupid but shouldn’t the term be
“Snake Farm”
?
Short for family i think
In my country, it’s a bit different. There’s special voting done by the police, army, etc., before the big day. Then there’s voting on Election Day where voters are constitutionally allowed 2 hours to vote.
Thank you Swifty! I’m glad she is being proactive. She doesn’t have to do or say anything but I’m glad she is, better now than never. I would never dream of not voting. My high school US History teacher required us to all register to vote in class. She was forced us to understand what a privilege it is to vote and how important it is. I do wish it was mandatory. Either way thanks Ms. Bishop. 15 years later and I still see her at my poling station =)
It’s crazy how difficult voting seems to be for you guys in the US. In my country you get a personal voting notice, that also tells you the designated polling station for your area, and when voting day comes, you just bring your ID and/or the personal notice with you, go there and cast your vote. The people who volunteer at the polling station have a list with the name of every voter in their area where they can check your name off. Put your ballot in the box and walk out. It takes minutes and the polling station is open from early in the morning until 6pm (and it’s always Sunday).
I thought this was an easy way to do it. I don’t really understand why you guys need to register to vote in the first place.