Taylor Swift Urges Fans in Tennessee & 16 Other States to Vote in the Presidential Primaries

Taylor Swift is once again using her platform to encourage her millions of U.S. fans to vote. 

In a Tuesday (March 5) post on Instagram Stories, the 34-year-old pop star pointed out, “Today, March 5, is the Presidential Primary in Tennessee and 16 other states and territories.”  

“I wanted to remind you guys to vote the people who most represent YOU into power,” she continued. “If you haven’t already, make a plan to vote today.”  

In addition to Swift’s home state, Tuesday finds Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Texas, Vermont and Virginia holding primaries for the Republican party. All the same states, plus Utah, are having elections for the Democrat Party.  

“Whether you’re in Tennessee or somewhere else in the US, check your polling places and times,” Swift added, including a link to Vote.org. 

The “Anti-Hero” singer has long been encouraging American Swifties to fulfill their civic duty using Vote.org, a non-profit, non-partisan voter registration organization that aims to increase election turnout and reach underserved and underrepresented voters. In November, she directed followers to the site ahead of Election Day in Colorado, Kentucky, Maine, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas and Virginia, quipping, “Voters gonna vote!” 

Since first breaking her silence on politics in 2018, Swift has had a proven impact on voter registration numbers. After she reminded fans to sign up on National Voter Registration Day in September, Vote.org reported a 22.5% increase in voter registrations compared to the year prior, with the site showing a 1,226% jump in participation just an hour after the pop star posted. 

“I always have and always will cast my vote based on which candidate will protect and fight for the human rights I believe we all deserve in this country,” Swift wrote in  a 2018 Instagram post, in which she endorsed Tennessee’s Phil Bredesen for Senate. (He ended up losing to Marsha Blackburn, which inspired the singer to write her Miss Americana single “Only the Young” about her hope for young people to reclaim the political landscape in the face of such losses.) 

“I believe in the fight for LGBTQ rights, and that any form of discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender is WRONG,” she continued at the time. “I believe that the systemic racism we still see in this country towards people of color is terrifying, sickening and prevalent.”