A high-ranking EU official would like to see Taylor Swift help convince young people to vote at the upcoming European elections – despite the global singer and songwriter being an American born and bred.
Margaritis Schinas, one of the European Commission’s vice presidents, said it is of vital importance for younger generations to head to the ballot between June 6 and 9 and cast their vote.
One way to “mobilise” youngsters, he added, is through the words of other young voters.
Mr Schinas then mentioned Ms Swift, who last September took to Instagram to urge young Americans to register to vote in the presidential election taking place in the US in November.
Ms Swift, who previously expressed her support for US President Joe Biden, wrote in an Instagram Story: “I’ve been so lucky to see so many of you guys at my US shows recently. I’ve heard you raise your voices, and I know how powerful they are. Make sure you’re ready to use them in our elections this year!”
The shout-out to her millions of followers, which included a link to the organisation Vote.org, was made as the singer was in the midst of her Eras Tour, the highest-grossing concert tour in history.
The popularity of Ms Swift and her large following led to the registration to vote of 35,000 young US nationals the very day after her story was published.
As a result of this achievement, she became the first-ever musician to be crowned Person of the Year by Time Magazine.
Hoping the singer could replicate the same success across the European Union, Mr Schinas noted Ms Swift is to bring her Eras Tour to the continent this spring.
Her European tour will start in Paris on May 9 – Europe Day, as noted by the EU politician during a press conference about the European Year of Youth in 2022.
He said: “Taylor Swift will be in Europe in May. So I will very much hope that she does the same for young Europeans and I very much hope that someone from her media team follows this press conference and relays this request to her.”
European elections have historically seen a low turnout. In 2019, for the first time since 1994, the figure of voters surpassed the 50 percent – but just, standing at 50.66 percent.
The growth in the number of voters has been attributed to youth participation.
In a bid to boost the turnout at the polls, Belgium, Germany, Malta and Austria are allowing citizens aged 16 or older to vote.
