Megan Thee Stallion Urges People To Vote As 2020 Election Approaches—This Is Big

The 2020 U.S. presidential election is in a mere 39 days. Megan Thee Stallion—who was just added to this year’s Time’s 100 Most Influential People—is using her platform to urge eligible Americans to register and vote.

Celebrity influence in politics and voting doesn’t decide outcomes, but it can make a big difference. In 2008, for example, Oprah Winfrey—who has made it on Time’s 100 list several times—endorsed Barack Obama. This led to increased voter participation, more contributions and an estimated 1 million additional votes.

Megan called out to her fans via Instagram with a video that received over 1.2 million views. She also set the link in her bio to a sign-up page for More Than A Vote, a coalition of Black athletes and artists fighting a longstanding war against racism and systemic voter suppression through education and empowerment.

Some studies have found that people find celebrities more trustworthy than politicians. A lot of this comes down to how much people trust a given celebrity and how many people trust that celebrity. But, there’s something else playing an especially important role this year in why celebrities are urging people to register and vote.

The Numbers & the Youth

Celebrity influence in politics can be huge, especially when a celebrity is targeting a group of people that do not typically engage with politics. This year, there’s an urgent focus on increasing the historically low engagement of young voters.

Young voters are greatly outnumbered by older voters who tend to be more conservative and white, demographics that were key to Trump being elected in 2016. That same year, less than half of people between the ages of 18 and 29 turned out to vote, according to Census data.

The number of young votes this year, however, is predicted to increase based on data like the Harvard poll which found 63% of young voters saying they will “definitely vote” this year compared to 47% who said they would vote in 2016.

Young voters are more racially diverse than previous generations, more open to change, more liberal and more likely to favor Joe Biden. And, because young voters are typically less engaged, this means celebrities may have more influence in getting them to vote.

Megan’s Numbers

Megan Thee Stallion is just 25 years old herself. Her move to encourage voters may have large implications because her fan base is mostly made up of young people. This is a perfect example of how a celebrity can target their influence towards a group that’s typically less engaged in politics.

Analyzing her Instagram statistics, where the video was posted, is relevant in considering her current and potential impact in the weeks ahead. Here are some key numbers, based on Chartmetric data.

• Megan currently has 15.5 million Instagram followers.
• 83% of her followers are based in the U.S.
• 84% of her total followers (or about 13 million followers) are between the ages of 18 and 34, crucial ages in the young vote.

Most of Megan’s millions of followers are in the exact age range being encouraged to register and vote this year, who may be able to influence the election outcome.

Megan’s involvement in encouraging people to vote is part of a big effort by celebrities across industries and by companies encouraging people to vote in the upcoming, most consequential election.

The Houston rapper has been on the rise this past year and in the past few months, especially since being featured on Cardi B’s chart-dominating “WAP.” Based on trends across her career success, Spotify listeners, and Instagram followers, her influence is steadily increasing.

As voter registration deadlines and November inch closer, the power of celebrities like herself to influence the young vote will continue playing a special role in the outcome of this election. In just over five weeks, the impact of these efforts will become clear.