Taylor Swift credited with surge in voter registrations

With the midterm elections just four weeks away, voter registrations are surging -- and it might be, at least in part, due to pop superstar Taylor Swift.

Kamari Guthrie, Director of Communications for Vote.org, told BuzzFeed the site had collected 65,000 new voter registrations within the 24 hours following Swift's Sunday night Instagram post in which she blasted Tennessee Republican Marsha Blackburn and endorsed her Democratic opponent, Phil Bredesen, in the Tennessee Senate race.

Per Guthrie, that's more voters than the site registered in all of August (56,669) and a third of those registered in September (190,178).

Swift's post was a rare political declaration. She's been conspicuously mum in the past, including during the contentious 2016 presidential election. Her comment on Sunday even garnered a public comment from President Trump, who told reporters, "Let's say I like her music about 25% less now."

But, according to Guthrie and Vote.org, Swift's stand is paying off. Said Guthrie to Buzzfeed, "Thank God for Taylor Swift."

In a 36-hour period beginning Sunday morning, Swift's home state of Tennessee saw over 2,100 new voter registrations on Vote.org, one of the more popular national sites on which voters can register or check their current registration.

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But, while Swift's statement made waves and is certainly responsible for at least some of those new voter registrations, there are other reasons for the big surge, foremost among them deadlines in several states.

Tuesday October 9 marks the last day to register to vote online in the states of Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Indiana, Kentucky, New Mexico, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and, yes, Swift's home state of Tennessee. Several additional states have deadlines fast approaching within the next week, so an uptick in voter registrations is to be expected.

It's also worth pointing out that this increase follows the heated confirmation battle and swearing in of new Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

Of course, regardless of the reason, this huge increase in voter registration is incredibly promising. According to one report, voter turnout for the 2014 midterm elections fell short of 37%, the lowest midterm turnout in nearly 70 years.

And if some of these voters are being driven to the polls by Taylor Swift's Instagram post, then more power to her and to them. It's a brave new world.