Happy National Voter Registration Day 🥳
Today's civic holiday and new 'I am a voter' x Bumble data on the politics of dating 🗳💘
Today’s civic holiday is all about celebrating democracy and encouraging voters to check their registration status or, in the case of many young voters, to register for the very first time.
Nearly 17 million young people will turn 18 between the 2020 and 2024 elections, and Gen Z and millennials will make up nearly 48% of eligible voters in 2024 — according to demographers and data from The Brookings Institution.
In an effort to register as many of those young people as possible, youth focused organizations such as the Alliance for Youth Organizing, When We All Vote, and Campus Vote Project and partners like Aflac, Google, Spotify, Snap (and so, so many more) are part of the National Voter Registration Day umbrella to commemorate the day.
Celebrities like Taylor Swift, who has 272 million followers, encouraged her Instagram followers to register, too.
For its part, the nonpartisan group ‘I am a voter’ is running its annual ‘Register a Friend Day’ today. To commemorate the occasion, ‘I am a voter’ creator and co-founder Mandana Dayani posted a video with Vice President Kamala Harris and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff.
The politics of dating
In honor of National Voter Registration Day, ‘I am a voter’ and dating app Bumble are launching an “I am a voter” in-app badge that will allow Bumble users to signal the importance of civic engagement in their lives.
The groups also released new data from a survey on the relationship between politics, dating, and friendship. In a survey conducted in August, they found that respondents are craving connection, even with voters from the opposite party.
“A majority (60%) of surveyed respondents said that politics has become too divisive and nearly 1 in 2 (48%) respondents agreed that there are likely more similarities in what people 'across the aisle' believe than differences,” according to data from Bumble, shared with The Up and Up.
The survey also found that:
More than 50% of respondents “are/would be open to dating someone who votes differently than them”
More than 50% of Gen Z respondents “say it is important to have a partner who can discuss, or understand, both sides of a political issue”
Beyond that, despite the conventional (and perhaps outdated) wisdom that politics is a taboo topic for a first date, Bumble found that many Gen Zers think political preferences are important to discuss from the get-go.
Nearly 2 in 5 (39%) of Gen Z respondents “say it is important to respectfully discuss politics on a first date”
The survey also found that some young online daters are drawn toward advocacy.
1 in 3 (33%) Gen Z respondents “say they are more likely to swipe right on someone’s profile that showcases their commitment to activism”
Likewise, the groups probed platonic relationships and found that:
50% of respondents “agree that you should have friends with differing political views for a well-rounded community”
When it comes to civic engagement:
2 in 5 Gen Z respondents (40%) “say they are more likely to vote if a friend goes with them”
According to Bumble, the company conducted the research to examine the role that politics plays in dating culture. The survey was commissioned by Bumble and carried out online by Censuswide from August to 25 to 29, 2023, with a sample of more than 1,500 United States consumers aged 18-75.
Youth vote in the news 🗞
Young people think climate change is a top issue but when they vote, it's complicated, Ximena Bustillo for NPR
Climate Protestors March on New York, Calling for End to Fossil Fuels, Somini Sengupta, Hilary Howard and Delger Erdenesanaa, for The New York Times