American Faith obtained an email describing how Gen Z individuals are being paid to register their friends to vote Democrat.
Democrats.com sent an email to supporters reading, “Do you know any young progressive activists?”
“And we need your help because most of our subscribers are over 30 so we can’t reach them by email.”
The email included a flyer depicting a “voter registration training opportunity” for young people on “SwipeBlue.” Gen Z individuals can “earn up to $35” to “encourage” their friends to “check their voter registration.”
Swipeblue is a relational organizing app that utilizes one’s cellphone contacts for social mobilization.
“SwipeBlue matches your friends to the voter file to show you who is registered – and who is not,” the app’s “About” page reads. “When you swipe left (Blue), a text message pops up that you can send to your friend to encourage them to register, to vote, or to take other important actions.”
If the user swipes left, the app will “load a suggested text message to that person. The message depends on the campaign you selected from the campaign feed.”
SwipeBlue’s website highlights that it is “designed for progressive activists who want to mobilize their family and friends to take meaningful actions.”
Although SwipeBlue is a product of Democrats.com, it is privately owned and “not controlled by the Democratic Party or any politicians or donors or special interests.”
If young Americans send texts to their friends, they receive $0.50. They can send up to 50 texts. They will also be paid $2 by referring a friend to the SwipeBlue app and can refer up to 5 friends.
Gen Z is specifically targeted for this endeavor as “GenZ registration is lower than previous generations because Covid interrupted many registration drives,” the email states, noting that the younger American demographic is the “most progressive generation in history.”
According to the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE), 8 million young Americans will have reached voting age by the 2024 election since the 2020 midterms.
“In the next presidential election, 40.8 million members of Gen Z (ages 18-27 in 2024) will be eligible to vote, including 8.3 million newly eligible youth (ages 18-19 in 2024) who will have aged into the electorate since the 2022 midterm election,” a report from CIRCLE says. “These young people have tremendous potential to influence elections and to spur action on issues they care about—if they are adequately reached and supported by parties, campaigns, and organizations.”
About 45% of all Gen Zs eligible to vote are non-white, while 47% of newly eligible Gen Z voters are non-white, the report notes.