“This must be a weird/intense/crazy year for you.” People said something like that to me every day in 2016. Yes it was. And the two weeks since Election Day haven't gotten any less weird.
But 2016 was also the biggest and strongest year for HeadCount to date, and with your help we'll keep growing – for 2017, 2018, 2020 and beyond.
We registered 164,469 voters for the 2016 election cycle, up nearly 45% from 2012. On Election Day an unprecedented 403,080 unique visitors came to HeadCount.org to verify their registration, find their polling place, or see what's on their ballot.
And we are proud that the turnout by Americans under 30 stayed approximately even with 2012 (Source: CIRCLE) – remarkable considering President Barack Obama’s popularity with young voters and the negative tone of this year’s election.
Starting next year we'll dig deeper into local and municipal elections, where decisions impact our everyday lives but turnout is incredibly low. We'll also bring the Participation Row social action village to more festivals and events across the country.
So how can you help HeadCount, help America and have fun? We are always looking for more volunteers (we'll be tabling at concerts again early in 2017). We've got internship openings in our NYC office for the Spring semester. And if you can't do either of those, you can help support us by making a charitable donation. Whether it's $7, $37 or $97, every dollar will help us make sure more Americans stay politically engaged.
There are tons of partners we want to thank for this incredible year – too numerous to cram into one email but many listed below.
Of course, the true heroes were our volunteers and team leaders. We were active in more than 50 cities this year and also hit 67 festivals (with props to our crews at Bonnaroo, Okeechobee, Firefly and Electric Forest for putting up the highest registration numbers).
So yes, it was a crazy year. But crazy good. Thank you for being a part of it.
HeadCount would like to officially thank ALL of the bands, festivals, music venues, promoters, partners and people who helped us out this year. It begins with HeadCount artists, listed here. We toured with 99 different bands this year, including new friends like the Dixie Chicks, Modest Mouse, SIA, Best Coast, Bad Religion, YG, NOFX and Vans Warped Tour, and got as much love as ever from old friends like Dave Matthews Band, Death Cab for Cutie, Tedeschi Trucks Band and the Disco Biscuits. We were featured in a wonderful promotion by Propeller and Jack Johnson, got amazing support from Bonnie Raitt, and the royal treatment from Mick Management, Madison House and so many other managers and agents.
We also want to give a shoutout to Dead & Company, LOCKN' and FloydFest for hosting Participation Row and thank our partners Clean Energy Advisors, D’Angelico Guitars, Qello Concerts, and REVERB for the critical role they played in that initiative; thanks to Ben & Jerry’s and the Waterwheel Foundation for helping us give out free ice cream and Pledge to Vote postcards on Phish tour; we are particularly grateful to all 67 festivals – yes 67, many of whom are listed here – who hosted Headcount booths this year, and the nearly two dozen venues where there were HeadCount residencies, many of whom are part of AEG Live! or Live Nation.
We also want to thank the hosts and supporters of our Convention Jams and election concerts including Magic Hat Brewing Co., The GRAMMYs®, Brooklyn Bowl, The Capitol Theatre, Electric Factory, House of Blues, Cleveland, Billboard, Greenberg Traurig, Amazon, Facebook, Oracle (and many more partners!), Kieloch Consulting, Kimball Straud & Associates, and especially Grace Potter, Dawes, Mutlu, Robert Randolph, Everyone Orchestra, Preservation Hall Jazz Band and all the artists who performed!
Further thanks to our media, technology, non-profit and corporate partners like Advama, CID Entertainment, Corn & Co., CrossCurrents Foundation, Dayglo Ventures, Enemy Ink, Furgang & Adwar LLP, Global Citizen, Grassroots California, HelloVote, JamBase, Jerry Garcia Foundation, Live For Live Music, LiveLoud Media, Matchfire, MTV, National Voter Registration Day, nugs.tv, Pandora, Patagonia, Relix Media, Rex Foundation, Rock the Vote, SiriusXM, Spotify, TurboVote, Veracity Media, VOTE.org, Wall Street Dead aHead, We The Voters, WhyHunger and many more.
We could not have done any of this without you all!
Sincerely,
Andy Bernstein, Executive Director