About Tok the Vote
Tok the Vote is a creator-led coalition to empower Gen Z to vote and mobilize young leaders in the fight for progress. It is an organic social movement, amplifying the shifting power in modern politics. Tok the Vote provides opportunities and resources for the digital generation to initiate the next wave of change.
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Gen Z is a pivotal group in the 2020 election. This is their first as a major cohort of the electorate, and TikTok is their entertainment and information platform of choice. Tok the Vote helps first-time voters put their fingerprints all over the electoral process.
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Our immediate goal is to get Gen-Z registered to vote and advocating for the issues of their communities.
Tok the Vote in the News
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“It’s a cultural sensation. It’s how they talk to their friends, how they share laughs and experiences with their friends and express themselves,” [Colton Hess] says. “We think that there’s no better way to mobilize Gen Z to get out to the polls than to ban TikTok, frankly.”
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"Voter registration efforts were already starting to happen on TikTok independently. One campaign called Tok the Vote partnered with influencers to encourage users to register to vote through videos and links in bios. About 3,500 TikTokers have used the campaign's tools to register, check their status or request an absentee ballot so far, according to Colton Hess, the founder of the campaign."
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"We need to meet these potential voters where they are - on TikTok -- and encourage creators who they feel like they know and trust to connect them with the information and resources they need... TikTok is a platform, voting is a movement."
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"Given the viral nature of TikTok and its enormous popularity among its over 175 million U.S. users, the campaign undoubtedly has a huge potential to reach new and first-time voters among it’s large user base."
All Jazeera September 14th, 2020
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"'TikTok's algorithm puts your content in front of people who are most likely to want to see it, so you can easily get a message to your target audience - in our case, forward-thinking young people who want to push for progressive change,' Hess told Al Jazeera."
About the Founder
Colton graduated from the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs in 2018 before moving to Seattle to work as a product manager at Amazon. The beginning of the pandemic was a time for deep self-reflection for Colton. Between the government’s egregious response to the pandemic and the increased spotlight on systemic racism and injustice in America, he launched Tok The Vote with the intent of getting Gen Z registered and voting. Through a coalition of young creators, the Tok The Vote team endeavors to use this online platform to drive social change and to empower them to be leaders in the fight for progress.
