Dating apps prompting users to register to vote

Dating apps are inviting users to sign up to vote this year between shots for a romantic partner.

OkCupid rolled out a “Vote 2020” badge this week that users can add to their profile to show they’ve already signed up.

If users answer the question in the app “are you registered to vote in the 2020 presidential election?” with a “no”, they will be taken to a new landing page offering them the option to sign up.

OKCupid has partnered with Michelle Obama’s campaign initiative, When We All Vote, to provide the registration process. OkCupid’s registered voters are 67% Democrats, according to the application.

Tinder also offers an in-app card prompting people to register to vote, which launched earlier in August. It directs users who swipe right to a landing page where they can sign up.

Dating app users are younger, including new voters, making these platforms a great opportunity for ballot calls.

Nearly half of 18- to 29-year-olds have used a dating app, according to a Pew Research Center poll conducted before the pandemic. Among people aged 30-49, 38% say they use a dating app.

Match Group, which owns the Tinder, OKCupid, Match and Plenty of Fish apps, reported an increase in subscribers and downloads after the pandemic was declared in March.

Not only are dating apps a good way to reach a key demographic of voters, dating apps say voting is becoming increasingly important to the dating process itself.

“Now more than ever, daters want to connect with people who share their values,” said Ariel Charytan, CEO of OkCupid. “Over the past few years, OkCupid users have become more vocal on today’s top issues, from climate change to voting rights. We’ve always empowered people to agree on what matters to them, and our millions of daters across the United States overwhelmingly prioritize civic engagement when it comes to finding someone they are compatible with.

According to OkCupid, users who identify themselves as voters are 63% more likely to get a match and 85% more likely to receive a message on OkCupid. Additionally, 500,000 people on OkCupid said they couldn’t date someone who hadn’t voted.