With the US midterms just around the corner, Snapchat today launched several new initiatives to encourage its users to vote, or at least register to vote, ahead of upcoming polls.

The Snap app has been identified as a key connector for democracy, with its ability to reach young audiences proven successful in making youths more aware of civic participation and improvizing political engagement among the youth groups.

The new efforts will try to get more young people to register to have a say, while also launching a new 'Voting 101 hub' in the app, providing instructional videos on how to participate in the voting process.

First off, on registration – in partnership with BallotReady, Snap's launched a new in-app tool that will help guide users through the voter registration process.
The other important feature of this new technology is the sharing of registration status and even inviting others to also register for the app.

Snap had tremendous success with 'I voted' type stickers in the past where users got to express and share their experience in the app. That kind of organic engagement activity goes a long way in informing behavior, and Snap is looking to lean in where it can add up and interest.

The new 'Voting 101' hub, meanwhile, will feature a wide set of instructional videos on everything an American needs to know about voting.

According to Snap :

"We've partnered with Nonprofit Vote, Vote Early Day, Power the Polls, BallotReady, Lawyers Committee on Civil Rights Under the Law, and VoteRiders to create these resources. Use Augmented Reality to make the real world an even better place. Snapchatters will be motivated to sign up and vote by entertaining Lenses and Filters – but most of all to get their friends to."

When campaigns take off in the lead-up to the midterms, Snap's content curation team will also include local Map stories highlighting voter engagement content as another incentive to encourage participation.
 
And again, all of this can have a significant impact.

Snapchat says its various in-app prompts opened voting information to more than 30 million users last year, and encouraged four million more to learn about their options to actually run for office this year.

Also worth noting:

According to the Centre for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, tools of Snapchat were found in that cycle of election to have particularly contributed to the registration of Black youths and young Americans who do not even have the slightest chance of being able to receive college education, constituencies that usually campaign and organizational efforts sparsely invest in and underrepresented amongst the electorate.
This is an important consideration, and Snapchat remains a key connector for younger audience groups-and as such, it's paramount that Snap continues to offer education resources and guides like this to help users learn more about civic participation, and how they can have their say in the political process.