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Facebook launches voter registration campaign over Fourth of July weekend

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July 3, 2020, 11:54 am

North American Facebook users on Friday were greeted with the company’s Fourth of July voter-registration drive that’s part of a push to sign up more than 4 million people to voter rolls between now and the Nov. 3 general election.

Facebook claims, according to its own research, the registration push is the largest in U.S. history and will reach more than 160 million people.

Robert Traynham

In Colorado, that meant a star-spangled post at the top of the feed of everyone on the platform who’s old enough to vote. It reads: “Get ready to vote in any upcoming elections” and includes a counter stating, “People around the world who have shared that they’re registered to vote.”

It then allows users to select a state and, in Colorado at least, offers a “register” button that takes users to the Colorado Secretary of State’s website.

The Fourth of July push follows a broader announcement on voter registration by the social media giant on June 17. At that time, Facebook CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg launched the company’s Voting Information Center that’s heavy on info from state election officials.

“Facebook exists to give people a voice, and voting is one of the most powerful ways to make your voice heard,” Zuckerberg posted at the time. “I hope that we can help every eligible voter in the U.S. who uses our platform to vote this year.”

Under fire for its role in allowing misinformation by Russians and other anti-democracy actors during the 2016 election, Facebook is pledging to “help protect the 2020 elections by connecting more than 160 million people with reliable information about the election, fighting interference, stopping misinformation, and increasing transparency in political ads.”

Facebook has been embroiled in an ongoing debate on misinformation from politicians, including President Donald Trump’s false claims that mail-in voting is rife with fraud. Twitter flagged those posts as false, while Facebook declined to intervene.

Colorado on Tuesday pulled off an all-mail-in (or drop box) primary that went off without a hitch – just like the midterm elections.

Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee and former Vice President Joe Biden has been pushing for Facebook to do more to root out misinformation from candidates like Trump.

Facebook Director of Policy Communications Robert Traynham, in a phone interview on July 1, told RealVail.com that’s why it’s so important for the company to link users to reliable local and state election officials for the best possible information, especially during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

“There will be guidance on registration and who’s eligible to vote, information on how to request an absentee ballot if you want to vote by mail, guidance for military and overseas voters, and dates and polling places for early voting,” Traynham said. “I want to really steer this more around your state and local officials as opposed to some of the national folks out there, because every state is different. And so that’s why we’re tailoring this to each specific state.”

Asked if this campaign will help offset some of the negative publicity around Facebook’s role in past elections and abuses of the platform by political campaigns,  Traynham said, “This was the right thing to do because we do believe that voice is all about elections, and vice versa, and holding elected officials accountable.”

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David O. Williams

Managing Editor at RealVail
David O. Williams is the editor and co-founder of RealVail.com and has had his awarding-winning work (see About Us) published in more than 75 newspapers and magazines around the world, including 5280 Magazine, American Way Magazine (American Airlines), the Anchorage Daily News (Alaska), the Anchorage Daily Press (Alaska), Aspen Daily News, Aspen Journalism, the Aspen Times, Beaver Creek Magazine, the Boulder Daily Camera, the Casper Star Tribune (Wyoming), the Chicago Tribune, Colorado Central Magazine, the Colorado Independent (formerly Colorado Confidential), Colorado Newsline, Colorado Politics (formerly the Colorado Statesman), Colorado Public News, the Colorado Springs Gazette, the Colorado Springs Independent, the Colorado Statesman (now Colorado Politics), the Colorado Times Recorder, the Cortez Journal, the Craig Daily Press, the Curry Coastal Pilot (Oregon), the Daily Trail (Vail), the Del Norte Triplicate (California), the Denver Daily News, the Denver Gazette, the Denver Post, the Durango Herald, the Eagle Valley Enterprise, the Eastside Journal (Bellevue, Washington), ESPN.com, Explore Big Sky (Mont.), the Fort Morgan Times (Colorado), the Glenwood Springs Post-Independent, the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel, the Greeley Tribune, the Huffington Post, the King County Journal (Seattle, Washington), the Kingman Daily Miner (Arizona), KUNC.org (northern Colorado), LA Weekly, the Las Vegas Sun, the Leadville Herald-Democrat, the London Daily Mirror, the Moab Times Independent (Utah), the Montgomery Journal (Maryland), the Montrose Daily Press, The New York Times, the Parent’s Handbook, Peaks Magazine (now Epic Life), People Magazine, Powder Magazine, the Pueblo Chieftain, PT Magazine, the Rio Blanco Herald Times (Colorado), Rocky Mountain Golf Magazine, the Rocky Mountain News, RouteFifty.com (formerly Government Executive State and Local), the Salt Lake Tribune, SKI Magazine, Ski Area Management, SKIING Magazine, the Sky-Hi News, the Steamboat Pilot & Today, the Sterling Journal Advocate (Colorado), the Summit Daily News, United Hemispheres (United Airlines), Vail/Beaver Creek Magazine, Vail en Español, Vail Health Magazine, Vail Valley Magazine, the Vail Daily, the Vail Trail, Westword (Denver), Writers on the Range and the Wyoming Tribune Eagle. Williams is also the founder, publisher and editor of RealVail.com and RockyMountainPost.com.