Prior to the 2020 election, voter turnout in the U.S. was very low, putting the U.S. behind most of its developed peers, placing 30th out of 35 OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) countries.

In fact, U.S. Presidential election voting turnout (as a share of the voting-eligible population) had been declining since 1908. Only 56% of the U.S. voting-age population cast ballots in the 2016 presidential election.

When We All Vote--a non-profit, nonpartisan organization, whose mission is to increase participation in every election--set out to close this gap in voter turnout in the highly consequential 2020 Presidential election.

Knowing that the first step to increasing turnout is getting people registered to vote, the organization sought an idea that would execute on National Voter Registration Day (September 22nd, 2020) to encourage people to start their voter registration process.

Breaking through voter apathy required a monumental event. Simply providing information and reasons-why was not changing voter perceptions. However, events leading up to 2020 created a desire in many to speak up, and influential people were using their social media platforms to get peoples' attention. In the age of social media challenges, our challenge was born--shake the apathy by organizing powerful celebrities in a voter registration marathon!

When We All Vote partnered with Michelle Obama and harnessed her influence to call on her peers to join the movement. Culturally relevant celebrities such as JLo, Zendaya, Tracee Ellis Ross, and many more held conversations and performances to encourage their followers to get registered and ready to vote. With volunteer activists, voting experts, and lawyers on hand, the platform provided all the necessary information and support to make sure viewers knew they weren’t alone in the sometimes complex process of getting registered.

When We All Vote has a mission to help get every eligible American to vote, so efforts were not limited to one specific demographic. However, there was an emphasis in the messaging strategy to resonate with 18 to 34-year-old people of color.

Within this group, simply the act of making a voting plan is proven to boost turnout by up to 10 percentage points. And given that over half of Americans (54%) get their political and election information from social media, who better to lead the charge for voter registration than the most admired woman in the world? In 2019, former first lady Michelle Obama was named the "most admired woman" in the world for the second year in a row and is considered a trusted subject matter expert on voting information.

Leading up to the event, social media banners built the excitement of Michelle Obama's first-ever Instagram Live appearance with a digital save-the-date. People were encouraged to share the bold, bright, and unmissable digital event poster with friends and family.

On National Voter Registration Day, Mrs. Obama welcomed fellow mom Jennifer Lopez, as they discussed the importance of voting through the lens of their shared experiences. Throughout the day, celebrities like Zendaya, Chris Paul, Ayesha Curry, DJ Khaled, and many more posted customized digital assets on their social media channels to promote the event to followers. They shared personal stories with people across many demographics while providing critical registration information and resources.

Over a million people watched a seamless run-of-show as digital assets on Instagram and YouTube guided them through the day. Post-event cutdowns of key conversations were shared on When We All Vote's owned channels and kept the message going.

Over a million people engaged with the Instagram Live event throughout the day, surpassing the goal by 33%. An impressive click-through rate of 30% led to over 43,000 new voter registrations in a single day! This sizeable contribution helped When We All Vote register over 400,000 new voters over the course of their 2020 election efforts, arguably playing a key role in the record voter turnout.