For Release: May 10, 2024

Democrats.com launched the first relational registration drive in history to make sure every Democrat votes in November.

The campaign is powered by SwipeBlue, the first relational organizing app designed for voter registration. SwipeBlue matches each user's friends to the voter file to show friends who may not be registered.

SwipeBlue, which is free for Democratic activists, was inspired by Tinder, the popular dating app. Users simply swipe blue (left) to text their unregistered friends.

The text includes a link to democracy.us where they can instantly check their registration by simply typing their phone number and year of birth. If the friend isn't registered, they are redirected to their state's official registration website.

"Relational texting is powerful because texts from friends are 29 times more impactful than texts from strangers. That's because we actually read texts from our friends - unlike the mass texts we treat as spam," said Bob Fertik, President of Democrats.com

Founded in 2000, Democrats.com is the original online community for Democratic activists, with 10 million subscribers.

Traditionally, Democrats registered voters at college campuses, community events, rock concerts, and busy shopping centers. SwipeBlue makes it easy for activists to register their friends from the comfort of their own homes.

"As climate change pushes summer temperatures over 100 degrees and makes outdoor registration difficult, registering voters with SwipeBlue in your air-conditioned home is a gamechanger," said Fertik.

While many Democrats are unregistered because they moved, Democrats.com is particularly focused on the 16 million members of GenZ who turned 18 since the 2020 election. GenZ activists can earn up to $35 by using SwipeBlue to text their unregistered friends.  

"In 2016, Trump beat Clinton by just 80,000 votes in the battleground states. In 2020, Biden beat Trump by just 44,000 votes in those states. So to beat Trump in November, we must register and mobilize every Democratic vote," Fertik said.

For screenshots, see below.

First, we match your friends to the voter file to show your friends who may not be registered.

Then we help you send them a friendly text to check their registration - and register if needed.

When your friends click on democracy.us they can instantly check their registration by simply typing their phone number and year of birth.

If your friend isn't registered, we link them to their state's registration website.