NextGen America Contacts Nearly 1.3 Million Young Americans on National Voter Registration Day

Influencers big and small help the nation’s largest youth vote super PAC inform potential voters about the need to register

SAN FRANCISCO — NextGen America contacted nearly 1.3 million young people on National Voter Registration Day Tuesday, delivering key information to America’s largest voting bloc nearly 40 days out from Election Day. Partnering with Crooked Media’s Vote Save America for NVRD, NextGen America prioritized phone calls over texts to allow for detailed conversations with unregistered potential voters and voters who likely need to update their voting address. In addition to 548,702 calls made, NextGen America was able to send 738,523 text messages on NVRD. The organization’s work builds upon its last national day of action, National Vote by Mail Day, which saw volunteers and staffers contact 3.6 million young Americans by text message.

“If the 1,287,225 unregistered young people that NextGen America volunteers and organizers called and texted on National Voter Registration Day were a city, they’d be the 10th biggest city in the country, just behind Dallas. And these are the hardest people to reach in the states that matter most in this election,” said NextGen America Executive Director Ben Wessel. “This is the work that will lead to record youth turnout this fall. Donald Trump and Republican senators should be terrified, because millennials and Gen Z are coming for them.”

Voter registration looks different this year, but NextGen America is rising to the challenge by working with Instagram influencers and online creators of all types, who helped drive young people to voterightnow.com, reaching a combined audience of at least 23.5 million followers on Tuesday. Big names like Rachel Dratch, Jamal Crawford, Chelsea Peretti, and Stephanie Beatriz joined in on the fun and used their huge platforms to promote this critical day of action.

“The election that we’ve been talking about and working towards every day for the past four years is here,” said NextGen America Founder Tom Steyer. “NextGen is working every day and in new ways to register new voters, energize disengaged voters, and create the largest turnout of young people and people of color we’ve ever seen. When the stakes are this high, you have to leave it all on the table, and that’s exactly what NextGen is doing.”

On top of record-breaking digital organizing, the team at NextGen America presented 171 “class raps,” visiting college classes virtually to inform students how to register to vote, and organized special events across key battleground states. Well-attended and high-profile events included a Black journalist roundtable in Michigan, “Donut Forget to Vote” giveaways in Nevada, a New Hampshire town hall with former gubernatorial candidate Andru Volinsky, a youth voter virtual concert featuring Macy Gray in Arizona, and a virtual concert in Pennsylvania featuring Foxtrot & the Get Down and regothereshego. In the upcoming weeks, NextGen America will continue to encourage young people to register to vote before their states’ deadlines and to request mail-in ballots.

About NextGen America

NextGen America is a multiracial coalition of young people, organized to take power by winning elections for progressive candidates. NextGen is uniquely suited to help millennials and Gen Z’ers seize power as an experienced yet nimble political organization that leads with authenticity and grit. Since 2013, NextGen America has registered over 1.3 million voters and contacted millions of young people with messages encouraging them to vote.

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