How Your Favorite Celebrities Are Using Their Platform To Urge People To Vote

From Tesla giveaways to Instagram story stickers, this is how our favorite celebs are getting their fans and followers to hit the polls.

  • Author: Trishna Rikhy

With election day only a little over a month away, voting season is officially underway—and whether you’re voting by mail, in person or have yet to register (you still have time!), your favorite celebrities are using their platforms to urge you to get out and vote.

From those most elusive on the Internet, like Frank Ocean, to those least elusive on the Internet, like David Dobrik, musicians, actors, and influencers alike are encouraging their fans and followers to engage in their civic duty and cast a ballot for the presidential election on November 3.

On the night of the first presidential debate, Frank Ocean took to Instagram with a rare Instagram story post. 

“Debates are on,” the artist wrote on Create Mode. “It all feels fake. The problem’s that it’s not. Donald is president and might not leave the White House even if he loses the race so some say. Pls vote. Watching him dragged out will be way more entertaining than these debates. If you’re not registered swipe up to BLONDED.CO the form just takes 2 minutes to fill out. Goodnight.”

He attached a link to his website, blonded.co—once a hub for Frank Ocean’s most coveted merch, music and projects, the home page now has a form for voters to register to vote or check their registration status. There are also links to an early voting calendar, election reminders, and instructions to vote by mail.

As social media’s favorite philanthropist, David Dobrik has taken to Instagram with one of his signature Tesla giveaways—but this time, with a twist. The influencer/vlogger is partnering with HeadCount to give away 5 Teslas to people who use the link in his bio to check their voter registration status. While the giveaway doesn’t require participants to be registered to vote, encouraging them to at least check their status and see how simple it is to do so definitely counts for something.

Also utilizing Instagram to mobilize voters with their platform is Tyler, the Creator, who made an IGTV video asking his fans and followers to vote this election. While admitting this is also his first time voting, the rapper said that’s more important now than ever, and that your vote does matter. Urging viewers to “pull up” in a story titled “if u can, vote,” Tyler reminded his audience of the issues that are at stake—namely, funding the arts in high school curricula.

On Twitter, Ariana Grande asked her followers after the debate to register to vote and vote early. She shared a HeadCount link, as did Kylie Jenner on Instagram, along with “Register to Vote” stickers on her story. With Kylie’s audience, it’s no surprise that after she posted the voting information, there was a record-breaking 1500% increase in traffic to vote.org.

Zendaya is also plastering voting messages across her social media pages; while on Twitter her bio is now a simple and direct “Register to VOTE,” the same message on her Instagram account is accompanied by a link to register to vote in her bio and a story highlight with a “Register to Vote” sticker—it seems that wherever she can, the actress/singer is using her platform to highlight the importance of voting. 

Similarly, Zendaya’s Euphoria co-star Barbie Ferreira is using her Instagram account to stress the importance of voting and registering to vote. Her recent Cosmopolitan shoot has her clothed in a simple and fun “VOTE” tee, and while in her Instagram caption she reminds everyone to check their registration status, on her stories she’s been helping people on a more personal basis—answering specific, one-on-one questions about how to vote, reposting helpful information about mail-in deadlines, and urging her followers to engage in voting.

Visit vote.org or learn more about how to register to vote here, and here for more information on how to vote by mail.

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