At a booth at Vans Warped Tour in DC, Eddie, a worker at Head Count, gestures to a table full of pins and registration forms and encourages people to take a look at the items as part of a partnership between the organization and Vans Warped Tour. Building on over a decade of partnership, Head Count will have an on-site activation this year in Charity Circle where fans can register to vote, check their voter registration, and collect some free swag.
For the nonpartisan nonprofit organization dedicated to helping young people get ready to vote, the call to sign people up for voter registration has become louder. With the Voting Rights Act dismantling and gerrymandering reshaping voting districts, voters need trusted voices to help them navigate when, where, and how to vote now more than ever. “I believe that you should vote early in every election. We at Head Count do want to make sure that everyone is registered to vote and are able to do it if they would like.”
Bauer says that they do have a process to ensure that everyone registers to vote. “Like you see here at the table, we have event-goers fill out the form or do it online and go to our website, and then we can check the status of their registration. If you’re not registered at that time, we can do paper forms or electronic (ones). I tend to prefer paper forms. And then we will go through the form with them, and we do have state specific forms that we can fill out that will have everything they need on that form. Other ones are more of a catch-all form. We will work with the person filling out that form to make sure that they are filling it out correctly.”
Festivals are places where people can find community and comfort in being with those who are like them. For some fans, especially those in marginalized groups, it could be easier to register to vote at a festival than in their hometown. “It’s very important for people in marginalized groups to have access to voter registration. So we do a lot of concerts and a lot of festivals. We do a lot of community events. We’ve been doing a lot more community events as of late, especially over the last few years.”
Bauer and the organization believe that it is important to “meet people where they already are.” We had people here today that were probably in their 40s that were walking by our table, and they said, ‘I’ve never registered to vote. I think it’d be a cool idea to register at Vans Warped Tour.’ You might go to a concert and not expect it or even be thinking about voting. You can walk by our table, and we can do it quickly and easily. It takes about a minute and a half to two minutes, and then you’re off to your show; you get your voter ID or card in the mail, and you’re good to go.”
Bauer has done a lot of community events in D.C. this year. “At those events, we really try to make it easy for any of those marginalized groups.” Also, being in D.C. at a festival could make fans more comfortable discussing politics or voting. “We’re in D.C., so a lot of people here talk about politics. So we try to stay away from that. We are non-partisian. We are excited about people being energized about politics and participation in democracy in general. At events like this, people will head over and want to share their opinions on stuff. We will kindly say, ‘I like your enthusiasm. Make sure you vote. We have a primary election and a general election coming up. Make sure you make your vote count.’ So, it depends on the event.“
Head Count gives fans across the country the opportunity and the power to join in on the conversation around politics and participate in democracy, with thousands of volunteers signing young people up at various events. The Vans Warped Tour festival stop in D.C. is just the latest volunteer-led effort to drive engagement by the organization. Slated to take place in D.C. next year, the Vans Warped Tour crowd will get another chance to make democracy stronger.
Festival goers hold up a sign for Headcount.Credit: Yvonne Gougelet
