--- title: Now Taylor Swift Is Encouraging Her Fans to Vote Early description: Taylor Swift has a new political post for her Instagram followers, and a new message to share about voting. canonical: https://time.com/5426974/taylor-swift-voting-post/ author: Melissa Locker article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-10-17T14:41:55.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-13T08:03:15.234Z og:title: Taylor Swift Has a New Political Message to Share og:description: The singer is no longer hiding her politics, and she has more info og:url: https://time.com/5426974/taylor-swift-voting-post/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltea81b5a5705ac3a3/69893cc38fd2eeac8f35ce2a/taylorswiftvotingpost.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4654 og:image:height: 2618 og:image:alt: 2018 American Music Awards - Arrivals og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Taylor Swift Has a New Political Message to Share twitter:description: The singer is no longer hiding her politics, and she has more info twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltea81b5a5705ac3a3/69893cc38fd2eeac8f35ce2a/taylorswiftvotingpost.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Taylor Swift Has a New Political Message for Her 112 Million Followers > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=941cc261-4234-430d-94f7-dbb0979f34b3&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Taylor's First Political Endorsements Caused a Swift Spike in Voter Registrations [Watch (HLS stream): Taylor's First Political Endorsements Caused a Swift Spike in Voter Registrations](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/smNQpBZC.m3u8) (1:24)  _Published 2018-10-09. Tens of thousands of Americans registered to vote within the 24-hour period after Taylor Swift encouraged her fans to do so in a rare politically-minded Instagram post_ by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Oct 17, 2018 2:41 PM UTC Tens of thousands of Americans registered to vote within the 24-hour period after Taylor Swift encouraged her fans to do so in a rare politically-minded Instagram post by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Oct 17, 2018 2:41 PM UTC Taylor Swift was apolitical for the bulk of her career, but this year she is [taking a stand](http://time.com/5418206/taylor-swift-tennessee-democrats-midterms-2018/) and using her platform to encourage people to vote–and now, to vote early. In an Instagram post, Swift encouraged her fans to take advantage of [early voting](https://www.usa.gov/absentee-voting), which lets voters submit their ballots before election day. “Something I wish I knew about when I was 18 and voting for the first time: ✨EARLY VOTING✨,” Swift captioned a photo of her toes painted red, white, and blue. “It makes it so quick and easy to go and cast your vote before November 6\. Early voting starts TODAY in Tennessee and goes to Nov 1 🇺🇸.” She also included a link to Vote.org’s [Early Voting Calendar](https://www.vote.org/early-voting-calendar/). Swift’s newly political Instagram feed is a surprising change for the [_Reputation_](http://time.com/5017724/taylor-swift-reputation-explained/) singer who remained mum on political matters for the bulk of her career, even staying silent at the height of the 2016 presidential election cycle. It all changed, when Swift broke her long-standing political silence on October 8th, when she shared a voting post to Instagram urging fans not just to vote, but to vote Democratic. “In the past I’ve been reluctant to publicly voice my political opinions, but due to several events in my life and in the world in the past two years, I feel very differently about that now,” Swift, a Tennessee native (and Tennessee voter) wrote in an [Instagram post](http://time.com/5419276/taylor-swift-instagram-post-voter-registration-spike/), adding: “As much as I have in the past and would like to continue voting for women in office, I cannot support Marsha Blackburn. Her voting record in Congress appalls and terrifies me.” Citing Blackburn’s stance on LGBTQ rights and her refusal to vote for a re-authorization of the Violence Against Women Act, Swift then threw her weight behind Tennessee’s Democratic Senate candidate Phil Bredesen. Since breaking her silence, she has been an ardent supporter of voting, even encouraging people to vote during her time on stage at the 2018 [American Music Awards. ](http://time.com/5419522/2018-american-music-awards-recap-amas/) ## Transcript [00:00] [ MUSIC ] [00:33] [ MUSIC ] [ MUSIC ] [01:16] [ MUSIC ] [ music ] Let's say I like Taylor's music about [01:18] 25 percent less now. 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