1 million people register to vote through Snapchat

More than 1 million people have registered to vote this year through the Snapchat app, the company said Thursday. 

The number of voters who registered through Snapchat’s in-app tool, in partnership with TurboVote, is already more than double the approximately 450,000 voters that registered through the app during the 2018 midterm elections. 

More than half of the 1 million people who registered to vote on Snapchat did so in less than a month. The company said 400,000 had registered to vote as of mid-September. 

Fifty-six percent of people who registered to vote through Snapchat this year are first-time voters, and about 65 percent are voters ages 18 to 24, a Snapchat spokesperson estimated according to data from TurboVote. 

The company also had more signups to register in Texas than it did in any other state, according to the spokesperson. Republican presidential candidates have won Texas for four decades, but recent polls have shown a competitive race between President Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, though Trump has seen a slim lead. 

Snapchat said in the weeks leading up to the election it will continue sending reminders to users about early voting deadlines in their states and ensure information and news in the app is accurate. 

In addition to tools allowing users to register to vote, Snapchat also launched a series of PSAs as part of a larger nonpartisan effort to promote users to register to vote. The PSAs featured are lawmakers from both parties, including former President Obama and former Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R), as well as celebrities and social media influencers.