Lyft will offer free rides for voters during the 2020 primaries
Voters struggling to get to the polls can look to Lyft.
On Friday, the ride share service announced that it would be expanding its free and discounted ride program throughout the primary calendar and general election. Part of the company's LyftUp initiative — a charitable effort that helps in-need riders of all kinds — the Voting Access Program will start with the Iowa caucus on Monday.
"Every citizen who wants to exercise their fundamental right to vote should have reliable, affordable access to the polls — regardless of income, age, zip code, or political affiliation," Lyft said in a statement on their company blog. "Yet in the last presidential election, it’s estimated that more than 15 million eligible voters didn’t go to the polls in large part because they lacked a way to get there."
To combat the troubling statistic, Lyft has partnered with League of Women Voters, National Federation of the Blind, Student Veterans of America, National Urban League, and Voto Latino Foundation to distribute ride vouchers to those who need them most.
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Uber offered a similar program for the 2018 midterms in partnership with nonprofits #VoteTogether and Democracy Works — as well as a $10 discount and an in-app polling station locator. No word yet on how these initiatives may resurface for 2020.
