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Taylor Swift Plugs Midterm Elections Again at American Music Awards

Vote.org saw registration spike following earlier Instagram post

Taylor Swift accepts the Artist of the Year award onstage during the 2018 American Music Awards at Microsoft Theater on October 9, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)
Taylor Swift accepts the Artist of the Year award onstage during the 2018 American Music Awards at Microsoft Theater on October 9, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)
By Alex Gangitano
Posted October 10, 2018 at 10:36am

Without mentioning any candidates or a party affiliation, music superstar Taylor Swift continued her push to get Americans energized for the midterms.

Taylor Swift made her latest plea Tuesday night while accepting the award for Artist of the Year at the American Music Awards, a fan-judged awards show.

“I just wanted to make a mention of the fact that this award and every single award given out tonight were voted on by the people, and you know what else is voted on by the people? … The midterm elections on Nov. 6. Get out and vote,” she said.

She first posted about the elections Sunday, saying she would be voting in her home state of Tennessee for two Democrats — former Gov. Phil Bredesen, who is running against Rep. Marsha Blackburn for retiring Sen. Bob Corker’s open seat, and longtime Rep. Jim Cooper.

[Voter Registration Sees ‘Taylor Swift Bump’ After Star’s Instagram Post]

As voter registration spiked early this week ahead of deadlines in many states, some chalked it up to Swift effect. 

Nearly 71,000 people ages 18 to 24 registered to vote between Sunday and Tuesday through Vote.org, according to a spokesperson. That’s 45 percent of the roughly 159,000 voters who registered through the site in that three-day period.

Griffin Connolly contributed to this report.

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