First Crest Of The Blue Wave? March For Our Lives Was Largest Voter Registration Event Ever, Organizers Say
If there is a Blue Wave coming in November, this may be the leading crest.
In the wake of Saturday’s nationwide March for Our Lives demonstration that drew more than 1 million people, voting organizers HeadCount said it was also the single-largest voter registration event in the organization’s 15-year history. Organizers of the event made sure to tie in voter registration in an effort to get young people more involved in politics, and it led to a record-breaking day.
HeadCount founder Andy Bernstein said his organization fielded thousands of voter registration forms from voters across the country, Mic reported, and the number is still rising as more come in from marches across the country.
This has been seen as evidence of what political pundits call a Blue Wave, a surge in voting for Democratic candidates that will restore control of Congress back to Democrats and put an important check on President Donald Trump.
There has already been plenty of speculation about a coming Blue Wave and what it could mean for the political makeup in Washington and on a state level. NPR noted that huge turnout in a Texas Democratic primary was seen as a sign that Democrats are more enthusiastic heading into November’s key midterm elections and appear poised to seize control of Congress back from Republicans.
“The rising Democratic enthusiasm mirrors what the party has already seen across the country in the nearly year and a half since President Trump was elected — more than three dozen state legislature seats changing hands, important wins in Virginia and New Jersey last year and mobilization through rallies and protests.”
There is still much disagreement on whether a Blue Wave will actually happen. While some pundits and left-leaning activists point to the results of special elections held in traditionally Republican districts that have gone in favor of Democrats, other evidence has tempered expectations. A recent poll from Fox News showed that Republicans are closing the enthusiasm gap with Democrats. When the same poll was taken in October, Democrats held a 15-point advantage in enthusiasm, 50 percent to 35 percent, but that dropped to six points in a poll released this month.
We’re still counting #MarchForOurLives voter registrations in cities across #America, but today is already by far the biggest single day in HeadCount #RegisterToVote history. In DC alone we registered voters from 42 different states. pic.twitter.com/78luh79uol
— HeadCount (@HeadCountOrg) March 25, 2018
There will be some upcoming tests of the Blue Wave, with upcoming special elections in Ohio and Arizona where CNBC noted that Republicans are favored to win. And Democrats will still have to overcome one of the biggest traditional disadvantages — actually getting the young people now registered to vote to actually show up on Election Day.
