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So far, 2020 has been a challenging year. We have lost important figures in the entertainment industry and the political scene. People have lost their loved ones, their jobs, and their savings due to the coronavirus pandemic. Racial profiling, social injustices, racism, violence, and police brutality cases have rocketed in the past four years, and so the public anger. We all can take so much, and the nation is in desperate need of a change.
In 2016, 139 million Americans cast ballots, but according to Catalist, after a jaw-dropping increase of 17 million, about 156 million people could vote in 2020. Numbers that could break the records and The Atlantic describes as a “voter-turnout tsunami.” Although it is unknown how many millions will vote to keep the current and tumultuous administration in office or how many will vote for a change, it is believed that a large number of voters are still indecisive. In contrast, others already made their minds and are not voting at all.
Being invisible during this upcoming presidential election can affect our country’s democracy. Therefore, a group of celebrities uses their platforms to remind people that voting is your right and your way to thank and honor every woman and man who fought for it.
Society dubbed Taylor Swift, Samuel L. Jackson, Jennifer Aniston, Demi Lovato, and many more entertainment figures as influencers, but on November 3, your opinion matter as much as theirs, and they want you to know that.
Let us start with Samuel L. Jackson, who took social media to challenge his followers. “Listen up - If 2500 of you click a voting action below to make sure you’re #GoodToVote, I will teach you to swear in 15 different languages,” he wrote. Luckily, everybody understood the “importance” of learning foreign languages, so the next day, the 71-year-old actor appeared once again holding poster boards and teaching us all different cursing words.
During National Voter Registration Day on September 22, Taylor Swift also shared resources to help her first-time voter fans register. “Hey guys, it’s National Voter Registration Day today. The election is November 3,” the singer said. “It’s really coming up, and I’ve put together a swipe up of resources you can register if you’re a first-time voter, check your registration, request an absentee ballot, and you can figure out the process of voting early. We need everyone, and it is more important than I can possibly say.”
Latina Powerhouse100 entertainer Demi Lovato also shared resources to help her followers during Registration Day. “It’s #NationalVoterRegistrationDay 🎉🗳🇺🇸❤️ It’ll take less than 2 minutes. Register RIGHT NOW at NationalVoterRegistrationDay.org,” she ordered.
Kerry Washington definitely knows how to play games. The actress tricked her followers into believing that a Scandal movie was in the making. Her post includes a link that leads to a not so scandalous place but to Michelle Obama’s When We All Vote website.
Jennifer Aniston shared a video of herself alongside Jimmy Kimmel at the 2020 Emmy Awards. “Let’s put out the dumpster fire that is 2020,” she captioned the post. “Text VOTER to 26797 (or click the link in my bio) to check your registration and make a plan to vote early. Do it for RBG!”
Kristen Stewart also found a way to connect with her fans, although she doesn’t have social media. Stewart took over her boo Dylan Meyer and shared a selfie wearing a “VOTE” t-shirt. “I never do this, but for anyone who has not registered to vote, please take this opportunity to feel HEARD. And not hopeless. I am voting because I WANT to believe in our country. Because I believe in climate change,” she wrote. “I believe in systemic racism. I believe in freedom of speech and the right to assemble,” she continued. “I believe in gun control. I believe that women have a right to make choices about their own bodies. I believe people have the right to live and love and identify; however, they feel in their hearts without fear. I believe that people care about each other. So try and have a lovely Tuesday and vote for your f**king lives.”
Halsey posted a photo on her Instagram story with the word “vote” painted on her face.
Lizzo had an important conversation via Instagram Live with Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA) to honor National Black Voter Day. The singer asked Harris how she would make Black people feel heard if she becomes Vice President. In response, Harris said: “We really ought to know the power that we have in every place, and never decide that any one place is excluded from us being there to get the kind of change that we want. So I made the decision to go up the rough side of the mountain, to go inside the system, but I also understand the brilliance of being outside of the system when you have the brilliance of Black Lives Matter and that movement and what it has done to force change.”
