To Reach New Voters, We Need New Tactics: Creating a New Kind of Rally

By: Ashlynn Profit, Managing Director, Communications, Content, and Media Partnerships

As students file off the buses from local campuses, one pulls out her laptop, thinking she’ll get some work done during the long remarks, breaks in the program, and expected delays and technical difficulties. Then the lights go down, and her favorite influencers step out in outfits made for the runway to get the show started. She’s on her feet the entire time, and her laptop has been swapped for a bright pink rally sign as she looks to a friend and says, “Wait… this is for us?” And what was supposed to be a boring night culminating in a speech from her iconic fave, Michelle Obama, ended up being a night of singing, dancing, laughing, photo ops, and celebrating democracy.

That’s the new rally. To truly reach new voters, we can’t use old tactics. We have to meet them where they are and bring the energy we see in videos online and at music festivals IRL to the polls. That’s what When We All Vote’s Celebrate Georgia rally did — here’s how.

Our goal was simple: Make voting for the first time an unforgettable experience in Georgia and nationwide. When young people cast their ballots for the first time at 18, they are more likely to become lifelong voters, and that’s how we close the race and age voting gaps and increase participation in each and every election.

First, we assembled the avengers. The voter registration numbers in Georgia didn’t happen by accident. They are the result of years, if not decades, of work by local organizations and community leaders. We brought together our partners at the Southern Poverty Law Center, Black Voters Matter, Rep GA, and more to help drive programming and participation. Not only did they support our work, they also received their flowers on stage.

It’s not a When We All Vote function without our celebrity Co-Chairs and Ambassadors, and they showed up in full force. We got fired up with Ciara and Kelly Rowland, laughed with Marsai Martin, danced with Blanco Brown and DJ D-Nice, sang with Ari Lennox, and closed the night with our Co-Chairs Michelle Obama, Kerry Washington, Liza Koshy, and Rita Wilson. And, of course, Lynae Vanee brought her parking lot pimpin’ and Kalen Allen brought the energy and fabulousness as our MC’s for the night.

Some might think something’s missing here: politicians. That’s not a mistake. When We All Vote is intentionally nonpartisan — we are not in the business of telling people who to vote for. We want to empower our communities to make their voices heard and know that their votes matter. Voting is something to celebrate, and participating in our democracy shouldn’t be about partisanship, it should be about US. That’s the new rally.

Then, we removed one of the biggest barriers to voting across the country: transportation. 29% of young Americans reported that they did not vote in previous elections because they lacked transportation options. To get everyone to the Gateway Center Arena, home of the Atlanta Dream, we partnered with Lyft, the National Basketball Players Association, SEIU, the Georgia Association of Educators, and more to provide buses for college students, as well as high school students involved with our My School Votes program. Students from Spelman, Clark Atlanta, Georgia State, Kennesaw — and even as far as Albany State and Savannah State — were able to get to and from the event smoothly.

Finally, we had to make voting an unforgettable experience for the thousands of first-time voters who joined us. At a time when enthusiasm about candidates was low, we used our superpowers to build excitement about the very act of casting your ballot.

Let’s start with the event experience. We leaned into bright and bold colors, featuring orange as a nod to Georgia peaches. Volunteers greeted attendees with pink, blue, purple, and orange rally signs that said “Voting is the Moment” and “First Time Voter,” as well as merch and swag. Attendees stopped by the photobooth and grabbed our custom newspaper hot off the press, featuring key issues on the ballot, a guide to making a plan to vote, a word search, and more. All the creative elements brought the experience to life and created a lively and fun atmosphere.

As they made their way to the floor, first-time voters ran into their favorite creators: Mona Swain, @betches, Gia Peppers, and @FEMINIST. A local DJ played some of Atlanta’s top hits and, in between sets, Ludacris’s hit Georgia blasted through the speakers with a video ode to Georgia’s voting history and culture. After fun performances and exciting speakers, DJ D-Nice brought everyone to their feet before our Co-Chairs Stephen Curry, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and Shonda Rhimes showed up on the screen, and Kerry, Liza, and Rita took the stage to welcome the star of the event — our Founder and Co-Chair Michelle Obama with a powerful message for the room.

“So if we’re going to do our part, here in our time, we’ve got to stay engaged. We’ve got to hold our elected officials accountable. We’ve got to stand up and speak out and sit in when it comes to it. But most of all, we’ve got to vote in every single election at every single level. Because these things don’t work if we don’t do them again, and again, and again. You can’t just do this once in a while. That’s why we vote — all of us, all the time. Because when we vote, we choose to push forward our own progress. When we all vote, we choose to bend the curve toward what we believe in. When we all vote, we choose not just the trajectory of our city, our state, our country — we’re choosing the trajectory of our own power.”

🍑 Was the juice worth the squeeze?

When We All Vote is on a mission to change the culture around voting. And to change the culture, you have to be in the culture. One of the centers of popular culture and politics is Georgia. Over just three months in 2024, more than 40,000 new voters registered in Georgia alone — including a 76% voter registration spike for first-time voters under 30. And participation in early voting skyrocketed in 2024, with 313,406 Georgia voters casting their ballots on the first day of in-person early voting, as compared to 136,000 in 2020. Overall, four million voters made their voices heard early in Georgia.

We know that Georgia is registered to vote, thanks to the incredible organizations on the ground in the Peach State. So, we set out to reach young voters and build energy and momentum around the 2024 elections. And we did just that — our way. The numbers speak for themselves:

• Nearly 10,000 people RSVP’d for the rally.
• Through talent, partners, and attendee-generated content, the rally reached more than 65 million people.
• The event garnered more than 1,400 press hits, including the New York Times, Deadline, and the Associated Press.
• Our social accounts saw more than 41,000 engagements, leading to a net follower growth of 193%.
• When We All Vote’s social content had more than 752,000 impressions and 26,700 engagements. The YouTube livestream has more than 20,000 views.

But what brings us the most pride is the feedback from our partners:

“Our young people are on Cloud 2000!! The rally was perfectly curated for young people and those of us who are young at heart. The energy was contagious and many of the young people with us were super excited to vote and encourage more. They understood their assignments: Vote. Ten to Win. Voting is the moment.“

— Kimberlyn Carter, Executive Director of Rep GA

Voting was the moment, and the joy, energy, and power in the Gateway Center Arena met that moment. As Mrs. Obama reminded us that night, our vote is our voice and our power. There were no breaks in the run of show, no long-winded remarks, and no politics. We spent the night celebrating democracy our way and building a rally attendees will never forget. While Celebrate Georgia may have been the first of this new kind of rally, it will not be the last.