Photo-sharing app Snapchat announced that it has already helped more than 1 million people register to vote, the majority of whom are first-time voters.
A spokesperson with the social media company told the Washington Examiner on Thursday that more than 80% of the voters it helped register are younger than 30 and that 56% of those Snapchatters are first-time voters.
The news is a marked increase from prior to the midterm elections in 2018, when Snapchat said it helped register more than 450,000 voters.
But will the million-plus newly registered voters turn out to the polls? If the past is precedent, many will. During its 2018 voter registration push, the company said 57% of the voters it helped register ended up at the polls.
The registration push could have a meaningful impact on the November election and help Joe Biden’s chances of beating President Trump. Generation Z and millennial voters support the former vice president by a nearly 2-1 margin, according to NBC News.
“There just simply isn’t another tech or media platform that’s been as mindful about reaching young voters with credible information and the tools to get involved in this election as Snapchat,” said Peter Hamby, the host of Snapchat’s Good Luck America show.
The Snapchat spokesperson said in a statement to the Washington Examiner that many of the newly registered voters live in the Sun Belt states. Texas was the state with the most new registrations, with Florida, Georgia, and North Carolina also bringing in large additions.
In August, the company rolled out an in-app voter registration option, among other voting-related features in the run-up to the Nov. 3 election.
