Despite Reports, Taylor Swift Is Registered to Vote in Tennessee
Despite the reporting of multiple websites to the contrary, Taylor Swift is indeed registered to vote in the State of Tennessee in the upcoming midterm elections, Saving Country Music is able to independently confirm.
After Taylor Swift compelled the public to register to vote in an Instagram post earlier this week and came out in support of Tennessee Democrats Phil Bredesen for Senate and Jim Cooper for House of Representatives, Taylor Swift was given credit for a dramatic spike in voter registrations in the state. But unable to find any record of Swift being registered to vote herself via Tennessee’s online voter registration database, multiple website’s pounced on Swift for her hypocrisy.
The website InfoWars ran an article stating plainly, Taylor Swift Is Not Registered to Vote in Tennessee. The website Information Liberation became the origination point of the story after they attempted to pull up Taylor Swift’s registration record online and failed. Since then Information Liberation’s story has been corrected to include that Swift’s record may come up with a variation of her name. However InfoWars and others have yet to offer corrections.
“I can absolutely confirm that she’s registered,” Coordinator of Elections Mark Goins of the Tennessee Division of Elections in Nashville told Saving Country Music Friday afternoon (10-12). Mark Goins reports directly to the Tennessee Secretary of State, Tre Hargett. “I can understand why someone would not necessarily think she is registered. I know she was very sensitive about how her name was on the voter registration. If they had reached out to us we would have told them the truth. It’s not under Taylor Swift, but she is registered.”
Taylor Swift has been given credit for inspiring upwards of 65,000 individuals in Tennessee to register to vote, but some experts dispute that number. Since Swift did not include a specific link as part of a dedicated campaign that could have tracked the number of registrations the post resulted in, there is no way to accurately track how many people signed up specifically due to Taylor Swift’s efforts. Swift’s Instagram post was also in the midst of other voter registration campaigns, and when voter registration was nearing the deadline in Tennessee when registrations usually see a spike.
Either way, Taylor Swift did ensure that the most important person she is responsible for was registered. We’ll have to see come Election Day if the Swift effect had any sizable impact on the eventual results.
October 13, 2018 @ 8:41 am
Of course someone would spread a rumor like this, because if a celebrity expresses political views opposite of your own they must be a hypocrite, or a liar, or a traitor, or mentally unstable. Sigh..
October 13, 2018 @ 8:48 am
Who in their right mind would believe anything posted at Infowars? If they post the sun will rise in the east tomorrow, wake up and look west.
BTW, did you know the name “Infowars” came from the fact that Alex Jones is at war with information? True story. Remember, you just read it on the internet. 🙂
As for Taylor, good on her. I believe she is a blight and may be one of the causes of global warming among other evil things, but good for her for stepping out and taking a stand. But no respect for those it impacted because if you are not thinking beyond what a shallow pop star is saying maybe you shouldn’t be voting. But I’m always in favor of those that say what they believe no matter how insane. Yeah, I’m looking at you Kanye.
October 13, 2018 @ 6:34 pm
Who in their right mind would believe ANYTHING CNN posts??? Liberals…you all make my head hurt with you ILLOGICAL thought processes…
October 14, 2018 @ 10:08 am
I would. Just because they bash Trump 24/7, doesn’t make them fake news.
October 15, 2018 @ 5:52 am
Imagine, for a moment, that both CNN and infowars have posted dogshit for ratings. Crazy, I know
October 13, 2018 @ 9:09 am
“I can understand why someone would not necessarily think she is registered. I know she was very sensitive about how her name was on the voter registration. If they had reached out to us we would have told them the truth. It’s not under Taylor Swift, but she is registered.”
I totally have no desire to get into the current politics surrounding Taylor Swift, but isn’t one of the basic tenants of voter registration that you must use your real name and address information? Even usa.gov says that those that MAY have problems during elections are “people who have changed their name or permanent address and have not updated their voter registration” and “people whose name or address on their ID doesn’t match the name or address on their voter registration”. However, at least with regards to absentee voting in the state of Tennessee, the government requires the name of the registered voter, address of the voter’s residence, voter’s social security number, voter’s date of birth, and voter’s signature. Either way, it would seem as though Tennessee’s voter ID laws are too stringent to allow someone to use a fake name to vote under unless the state is willfully breaking the law to accommodate her, which seems to be their admittance.
October 13, 2018 @ 9:32 am
Ultimately it is not the name, but like you said, the social security number, address, date of birth, etc. of the registrar that ensures the person is who they say they are, and that they have a legal right to vote in elections. It appears Taylor Swift registered as T A Swift, which is her first initial, middle initial, and last name. It’s not like she registered as Chester McFlufferhuffin and is trying to vote twice. She’s a massive pop star probably doing what she can to protect her privacy.
October 13, 2018 @ 10:30 am
I’d be more interested in how Chester McFlufferhuffin votes. He sounds like a hard working guy who comes from good stock.
October 14, 2018 @ 4:32 pm
I vote red for the orange feller.
October 13, 2018 @ 10:50 am
Thanks for the clarification! Taken at face value, Mark Goins’s statement is slightly weird, but specifying exactly how her name is registered makes sense. At least she didn’t try to go with Taylor Frankenfurter or the ever-popular Michael Jackson Montgomery!
October 13, 2018 @ 3:19 pm
I don’t know about all this. Because of family tradition I have 4 middle names and a hyphenated last name. However that version is only found on my birth certificate and SS card. On all other legal documents (my driver’s license, tax forms, financial records, employment contracts, Blockbuster membership card) it’s just my first name, one middle name, and one last name — the same version I’ve used my entire adult life. During one election cycle, somehow the long form of my name was on the voter registration list that the poll workers have and the short version was on my ballot. Subsequently I was not allowed to vote. I was vehemently and repeatedly told that the two names must match. After some research I found this was true of most states. I did not specifically research Tennessee at the time but I believe NPC is correct: the name matters. One cannot register to vote (at least legally) with any other name other than one’s current legal name.
October 14, 2018 @ 9:08 am
You are mixing up different things here, in my opinion. Yes your names have to match on your registration and the list the poll workers have. however that doesn’t matter if it’s the short form or the long form. That is probably why the guys Trig talked to mentioned she was very specific how she wanted it recorded.
October 14, 2018 @ 11:48 am
Blockbuster membership card?
October 14, 2018 @ 3:45 pm
Bryan, I hear what you’re saying. But what I’m saying is that, so far as I understand it considering what happened in my case, a person must be registered to vote with their legal name and both the voter logs AND ballot must reflect said legal name. T A Swift is not her legal name.
October 13, 2018 @ 7:17 pm
I think the A stands for Alison or something, because her middle name is Finlay or Finley. Oh man, I cant call myself her fan anymore. I already forgot some basic infos ’bout her that fellow swifties know by heart ????
October 14, 2018 @ 5:23 pm
According to the [begin sarcasm] always accurate wikipedia [end sarcasm], Allison is her middle name and Finlay is her mother’s maiden name.
December 26, 2023 @ 10:46 am
Why doesn’t the United States have the same set up for people who want to vote like we do here in Canada? (if you’re a citizen, you’re a voter; just make sure you have your ID on you when you show up to vote.)
October 13, 2018 @ 9:13 am
If InfoWars posted anything based in reality it would be a first.
October 13, 2018 @ 9:30 am
65,000 people did not register to vote in TN after her announcement that was the national number of people who registered on Vote.org. In TN 2,144 people registers post Taylor Swift on the last day of eligible registration. In comparison during the registration period of the last mid term election 1,700 people registered on the last day of eligible registration in TN. Reporters who are writing a story to correct inaccurate reporting in another story should get the facts correct in their own story.
October 13, 2018 @ 9:54 am
The 65,000 was reported by one outlet, and then parroted in the media echo chamber without anyone checking the facts similar to this “Taylor Swift Is Not Registered to Vote in Tennessee” story. I had multiple folks reach out to me, wanting me to write about Taylor Swift lying about being registered to vote in Tennessee. It took me less than 15 minutes to get the highest ranking authority over Tennessee elections on the phone, and speaking to me on record about how Taylor Swift was registered, and why her name was not coming up in the online database. I don’t want to act like I’m some beacon of virtue, but a lot of this misinformation is so easy to dispel if media members would just take a few more minutes to get stuff straight before they report. I’m sure Taylor Swift did compel some new people to register to vote that wouldn’t have otherwise. But it is impossible to know the real number.
October 13, 2018 @ 9:40 am
Here’s the Taylor Swift story I want to see: “The Music Modernization Act of 2018 and why Taylor Swift did not attend the signing at the white house.” Very sad since she pulled her music from spotify before and seemed to be active in the creation of this bill. This has got almost no attention from the media. As far as I know Taylor has not said a word about this. Is it because Trump was the one signing the bill? Was it because Kanya was there on the same day? Is there some sort of feud with her and Marsha Blackburn? Marsha has worked to pass this bill for years. Just a few days ago Taylor throws her hat into the political ring for the Democrat senator who is down in the polls and stated how horrible Blackburn is. Why did she do that?
October 13, 2018 @ 10:53 am
Good questions.
October 13, 2018 @ 7:56 pm
Maybe she wasn’t invited. Only one country artist was there and that was John Rich. Taylor was pretty specific about why she isn’t supporting Blackburn, “She voted against equal pay for women. She voted against the Reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, which attempts to protect women from domestic violence, stalking, and date rape. She believes businesses have a right to refuse service to gay couples. She also believes they should not have the right to marry. These are not MY Tennessee values.”
October 13, 2018 @ 11:37 pm
lol. Reads like a campaign volunteer ready-made response. What’s not clear is why she waited until the last minute to support a person that has almost zero chance of winning. The timing of the music modernization bill and her silence on the issue is very interesting to me.
October 14, 2018 @ 8:21 am
I don’t see how you could possibly make any connection to the music bill. None.
October 14, 2018 @ 8:38 am
You’re right Liza. Nothing to see here folks, move along.
October 14, 2018 @ 9:58 am
I’m curious how “hard” Marsha has worked to pass the act. I’ve just been reading about it. The music modernization act was fully bipartisan supported by Republicans and Democrats. It’s the combination of 3 bills, none of which have Blackburn’s name on them. Jim Cooper, a TN Dem who Taylor said she is voting for also sponsored the act and did so along with another TN Democrat on the same day as Blackburn. A fourth TN Republican also sponsored the bill a week after the first three. In all, 49 US legislators sponsored the act. I don’t see where Blackburn performed any magic. In fact, I would say to all of them, “what took so damn long?”
Did Blackburn do anything more than those who authored the 3 bills that became the act and the other 48 sponsors or is she just using it as campaign rhetoric? She certainly seems to be getting full credit from her constituency.
October 14, 2018 @ 6:35 pm
liza, I hope they at least give you a per diem for all your hard work. John Rich mentioned her by name at the White House signing and I’ve read the article in the Tennessean that said she was involved in it. I have no first hand knowledge of the situation. Also, btw John Rich was not the only country singer in the room and actually most of the people signing are Nashville in one way or another. And is TS really country anymore at all?
October 14, 2018 @ 8:28 pm
Well of course John Rich would mention her – she’s his Rep and he supports her. Craig Morgan was the other country songwriter there.
No one from several music organizations quoted in Music Row Magazine mentions Blackburn. I’m just saying that when she has been mentioned, it has been as one of many (49) who co-sponsored and supported this from both sides of the aisle. In fact, the Tennessean gave Senator Lamar Alexander credit for brokering the deal with others on the politician side and nowhere is Blackburn mentioned.
She’s bragging a bit loudly for how little her name is mentioned in credits. Just sayin’. Not hard work at all, but bless your heart – I have followed this all along.
https://www.tennessean.com/story/money/2018/01/29/how-lamar-alexander-brokered-deal-led-music-modernization-act/1070254001/
https://musicrow.com/2018/10/breaking-president-signs-music-modernization-act-into-law/.
October 14, 2018 @ 11:36 pm
Trigger are you reading this?!?! This “liza” gal is WAY too involved. This ain’t no Swifty. I struck a nerve big time. Please look into this. I’ve been reading this site for many years and I have faith in you. I know you think that Mean song was about you but don’t let that get in the way. There is something major happening between Taylor and Marsha Blackburn. I don’t know what it is but it was enough for Taylor to stick her neck out politically when she never has before. AND it was for a losing candidate. Something big must have happened for her to do this because she has SO much to lose and not much to gain.
October 15, 2018 @ 12:02 pm
Marsha is a member of the Illuminati, BEH. They have been trying to control Taylor for years. It’s why Taylor left Spotify – Marsha was playing her songs backwards to convert her fans.
October 13, 2018 @ 9:46 am
It’s funny how such a mild political statement blew up, especially when she only made that instagram post to separate herself from the “Taylor Swift is racist!1!” crowd on the left and the Alt-right and Nazi trolls who idolized her on the right.
It was a career / image move and I doubt she’ll ever make any other serious political effort in the future besides maybe tossing a bone to the Dems in 2020 to avoid what her silence did to her image in 2016.
October 13, 2018 @ 10:31 am
For those naysayers complaining about why Trigger would post this or what it has to do with a saving country music (even though you opened and read the whole article), I say:
Part of saving country music is a critique on the celebrity and the media’s treatment of the celebrity. The treatment of celebrities outside of country music affects how the media treats country music stars, which eventually affects their image and music. Trigger’s Taylor/Kanye article hit the spot last week. Look at how much politics has been injected into country music in the past year. Look at how that has affected artists’ images and public perception, especially with gun topics. Refer to the Eric Church-Rolling Stone article and Trigger’s analysis from last month.
So when influential “news” outlets start misinterpreting and misreporting these sorts of topics, it’s up to others to correct them- especially when they reported on the topic just days earlier.
You also can’t look past the fact that Taylor’s post was specifically about Tennessee politics. It goes without saying that when’s Tennessee and Nashville’s biggest celebrity weighs in on politics, it it will have affects- whether ripples or waves- on the country music industry’s approach to politics. Just last week, Marren Morris posted a copy of a RBG biography gifted to her by…. Taylor.
October 15, 2018 @ 2:40 pm
I do not believe that Trigger posted this article because “part of saving country music is a critique on the celebrity and the media’s treatment of the celebrity.” I think he posted it because part of saving country music is a critique on Taylor swift and the media’s treatment of Taylor swift.
October 13, 2018 @ 11:22 am
If we’re going to start posting corrections to Infowars, we’re going to need a bigger internet.
October 13, 2018 @ 12:40 pm
Everyone who knows me on this blog knows that I’ve always been critical of Taylor but seriously an article on her voter registration??? Come on… leave her alone. If I had to choose between President Celebrity, 2020 Kanye, or Taylor to lead the country I’d be team Taylor which is saying a lot because I hate all three of them. The difference here is that Taylor has a brain in her head (we’ve seen that with her success in music) the other two… not so much.
October 13, 2018 @ 2:58 pm
The guy she is supporting for senate is running a false ad about his NRA rating and the Project Veritas video on his campaign is interesting as well.
October 13, 2018 @ 8:02 pm
What I liked about Taylor’s statement was this “vote based on who most closely represents your values. For a lot of us, we may never find a candidate or party with whom we agree 100% on every issue, but we have to vote anyway.”
You can go back and forth endlessly with statements like yours. At the end of the day, it’s sometimes just best to accept someone’s choice.
October 13, 2018 @ 3:03 pm
This is noteworthy because….?
Matter of fact, why is ANY article on Swift posted here?
October 13, 2018 @ 5:01 pm
Money talks. Even if all it says is Blah Blah Blah.
October 13, 2018 @ 6:55 pm
Emmylou actually did a tv ad for Bredesen.
But, like the pop princess’s recent endorsement of Phil, it’s not enough.
He couldn’t get elected with the support of Johnny Cash, Elvis and Dolly.
Marsha’s clubbing him like a baby seal.
I’m glad someone corrected the totally bogus claim that 65,000 people registered in TN in the wake of Taylor’s endorsement- I didn’t buy it for a minute.
October 13, 2018 @ 7:28 pm
There is something very fishy going on here. There had to be a reason Taylor decided to endorse a losing candidate in the final weeks of a campaign. She has always kept silent on politics, why now? What can she possibly gain? There is more to this story and my hope is that Trigger will do some investigative reporting.
October 14, 2018 @ 7:20 pm
Possibly, but it may just be celebrity hubris.
October 13, 2018 @ 7:04 pm
I appreciate this article since her credibility was in question—helping people to register, the Instagram post, and encouraging people to vote if she couldn’t even do it herself.
It makes sense why she would try to ‘hide’ her name as much as possible.
I couldn’t imagine her not being registered properly—this is a gal who, as a teen, was called, “scarey smart.”
A bit off-topic about her……….she has success many Artists only dream of, but it’s fair to say has worked hard for it, nothing was just handed to her. No Artist appreciates their fans more,
and she has done a lot of good with her ‘celebrity’ status along the way. She has a lot, but has been quick to give a lot. Also she visits sick children in the hospital, has been for years now. I think that takes a special person.
October 13, 2018 @ 8:08 pm
God, please don’t start calling this the Swift effect.
October 13, 2018 @ 9:10 pm
She is indeed registered, under the name T A Swift, in Davidson County, Tennessee (Nashville). Her full name is Taylor Alison Swift, so she registered using her initials. InfoWars and the rest of those websites don’t care about truth.
October 14, 2018 @ 7:22 am
Taylor Swift is scary smart? ROTFLMFAO- that does not equate to being politically knowledgeable- if she, or others, were so smart they would ask, publicly and privately; why are we limited to only 2 choices? Why do we keep voting for the same people (D or R) over and over and expecting different results? Einstein, was smart. Eisenhower hinted at it. JFK was smart. Politicians believe Guam might tip over – that guns have minds and are killers – that one more law will fix everything, provided x submits it – that their red, white and blue is more red, white and blue than the other guys- vote? For what/who? The same destination with a slightly different rate of descent is still descending down a one way street towards a brick wall- 88 mph vs 91 mph is still catastrophic and no politician is going to stop it – History (for those who believe themselves scary smart) tells us what the future is- and no politician will effect it, D or R or L or G, communist, socialist, capitalist, monarchist, theocratist or any other ist. Voting is a sham that allows (or wants) us to believe we control our destiny-
Scary smart- LOL-
Democrats have had ample opportunity to change direction- and haven’t.
Republicans have had ample opportunity to change direction- and haven’t.
The last politician who really wanted to *change* things got assassinated for his trouble- and Russia had nothing to do with it- we are our own worst enemy- we *trust* politicians to do as they promise and don’t hold them accountable when they blatantly refuse- same thing over and over and expecting different results- yeah, scary smart. LOL
December 26, 2023 @ 10:58 am
Read this, then get back to me when you do (https://cendax.wordpress.com/2014/03/30/politics-101-for-the-left-revisited/ )
Oh yeah, one other thing that’s related to what you said above that was the the article you need to pay attention to:
October 14, 2018 @ 7:57 am
Good for her, does she want a medal? lots of folks are registered to vote in TN. who cares if she is?
October 14, 2018 @ 8:15 am
This may help answer your question Fuzzy:
https://savingcountrymusic.com/despite-reports-taylor-swift-is-registered-to-vote-in-tennessee/
October 14, 2018 @ 9:37 am
taylor swift did not cause more to registered to vote…. she announced her pics the day before the LAST DAY TO REGISTER IN 18 STATES AND HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH TAYLOR. that would be the same as saying she told people to file their taxes on April 14th and claim her post caused millions to file their taxes on April 15th. lmao
October 15, 2018 @ 4:29 am
Not to split hairs, but technically Taylor Swift isn’t registered to vote in Tennessee, T A Swift is.
But seriously; no one from Tennessee is shocked that she would vote Democrat. Everyone knows that Davidson and Shelby county are going to go blue, and the rest of the state traditionally goes red.
October 15, 2018 @ 6:37 am
Leftist Taylor Swift announces she’ll be supporting Democrat Phil Bredesen instead of Marsha Blackburn because of her “atrocious” record on women’s rights. Next morning, Blackburn’s numbers spike-up 14 points. Priceless..
October 16, 2018 @ 5:00 am
I am always left scratching my head at how modern carpetbaggers continually get elected down South. I guess the region is now so poisoned with northerners fleeing the hell they created in their own benighted homelands.
October 16, 2018 @ 3:02 am
This is good to know.