Studies suggest a large segment of Gen-Zers are disconnecting from political media and institutions, making the generation harder to reach with civic information. A group is trying to help by going in person to music events around the state.
HeadCount is a national nonprofit that does non-partisan voter registration. They have been around for over two decades. They recently registered voters at Florida’s Okeechobee music festival and have plans to attend several more Florida events between now and election day.
Tappan Vickery, Headcount’s VP of program and strategy, said some segments of younger voters are harder to reach with civic messaging on social media.
“We also have a major trend for Gen Z right now where they're really, you know, turning away from digital media and really trying to have in person experiences create authentic and meaningful conversations,” she said.
She said in-person outreach at large cultural events help.
“We do it through peer-to-peer voter registration, fan-to-fan voter registration. So, you're actually talking to somebody who you already have something in common with,” she said.
HeadCount also collaborates with artists on social media to reach their fans. One of the collabs at Okeechobee was posted to TikTok and featured Rainbow Kitten Surprise lead singer Ela Melo.
Florida’s voter registration deadline for August’s primary elections is July 20th.