Yesterday was a big day for HeadCount and America.
Voter turnout was its highest in years for the Virginia governor’s election, with increases among BOTH Republican and Democratic voters. Nearly half of all eligible voters (47%) turned out, which is unusual for a so-called “off-year” election.
HeadCount’s #VoteLocal campaignreached a climax with more than 85 musicians posting photos on social media with a link to our website (check out some of the tweets here). We got support from HeadCount stalwarts like Dead & Company, new friends like Local Natives, and old friends like MGMT.
They helped more than 60,000 voters find their polling place on HeadCount.org. And another 50,000+ verified their voter registration through us. HeadCount’s website is now the top-ranked national resource in Google searches in those two categories. Another 25,000 people received TurboVote text or email alerts about local elections after signing up with HeadCount at a concert or festival.
Next year, the entire country will go to the polls again to vote for congress. We’ll be hitting it hard all year in the lead up to the midterms.
Look for HeadCount embedded on tours with Dead & Company and Grizzly Bear this month, where we work with multiple non-profits to create an entire experience around civic engagement. We’re also working with a major ad agency to create original content and do proprietary research, zeroing in on “dropoff voters” (people who vote in Presidential elections but then don’t vote again for another four years). The Virginia election is a good sign that voters are more engaged than in years past. With your help, we’ll do everything we can to keep that going.