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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).

SEE ALSO: Snapchat's voter registration initiative might actually reach new voters

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. 

View this post on Instagram

I’m writing this post about the upcoming midterm elections on November 6th, in which I’ll be voting in the state of Tennessee. In the past I’ve been reluctant to publicly voice my political opinions, but due to several events in my life and in the world in the past two years, I feel very differently about that now. 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. I believe in the fight for LGBTQ rights, and that any form of discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender is WRONG. I believe that the systemic racism we still see in this country towards people of color is terrifying, sickening and prevalent. I cannot vote for someone who will not be willing to fight for dignity for ALL Americans, no matter their skin color, gender or who they love. Running for Senate in the state of Tennessee is a woman named Marsha Blackburn. As much as I have in the past and would like to continue voting for women in office, I cannot support Marsha Blackburn. Her voting record in Congress appalls and terrifies me. She voted against equal pay for women. She voted against the Reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, which attempts to protect women from domestic violence, stalking, and date rape. She believes businesses have a right to refuse service to gay couples. She also believes they should not have the right to marry. These are not MY Tennessee values. I will be voting for Phil Bredesen for Senate and Jim Cooper for House of Representatives. Please, please educate yourself on the candidates running in your state and vote based on who most closely represents your values. For a lot of us, we may never find a candidate or party with whom we agree 100% on every issue, but we have to vote anyway. So many intelligent, thoughtful, self-possessed people have turned 18 in the past two years and now have the right and privilege to make their vote count. But first you need to register, which is quick and easy to do. October 9th is the LAST DAY to register to vote in the state of TN. Go to vote.org and you can find all the info. Happy Voting! 🗳😃🌈

A post shared by Taylor Swift (@taylorswift) on Oct 7, 2018 at 4:33pm PDT

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.