*By Christian Smith*
Taylor Swift's decision to break her political silence and urge her followers to register to vote is an incredibly valuable gift to organizations trying to get out the younger vote on Nov. 6, said DoSomething.org CEO Aria Finger.
"It does matter when young people see other people voting, other celebrities get involved," Finger said Wednesday in an interview on Cheddar. "We want to make it cool for young people to get out and vote."
After the pop star posted a message to [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/p/BopoXpYnCes/?taken-by=taylorswift) encouraging her over 112 million followers to vote ー and effectively endorsing two Democratic candidates in Tennessee ー registering platform Vote.org said it received a surge in new registrants numbering in the thousands.
At stake in this year's midterms are all 435 U.S. House seats and 33 U.S. Senate seats.
Voter registration has been an essential goal for DoSomething.org, which has registered over 70,000 new voters this year alone.
Beyond voter registration, Finger said there has been a general boost in civic engagement from millennials and Gen Z since Donald Trump was elected president almost two years ago.
"They just want solutions," Finger said.
"Young people say, 'What can I do in my local community to make a difference because the old people, they're not helping us.'"
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/the-issues-uniting-millennials-going-into-the-midterms).
Former President Donald Trump and the 18 people indicted along with him in Georgia are scheduled to be arraigned next week on charges they participated in a wide-ranging illegal scheme to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
Data gathered by The Associated Press show at least 14 of the 20 most populous U.S. cities are hosting or starting programs, sometimes called civilian, alternative or non-police response teams.
The original march in 1963 drew as many as 250,000 people and helped pave the way for the passage of federal civil rights and voting rights legislation in the next few years.
President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris will observe Monday's 60th anniversary of the March on Washington by meeting with organizers of the 1963 gathering and relatives of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., who delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech at the Lincoln Memorial.
A special session in the Tennessee Senate ended abruptly on Thursday without any action on gun control.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul asked President Joe Biden to help the state absorb a surge of migrants.
The Pentagon said it will train Ukrainian pilots to fly F-16 fighter jets for its war against Russia.
Vice President Kamala Harris will visit Wisconsin to tout the Biden administration's broadband and affordable connectivity policies.
The Biden administration approved a $500 million weapons sale to Taiwan.
A pre-trial detention was extended for The Wall Street Journal journalist Evan Gershkovich until Nov. 30 by Moscow.
