Snapchat rolls out in-app voter registration tools

Snapchat announced Thursday that a new set of voter registration tools and information is coming to the app to help young people prepare for the Nov. 3 presidential election.

The picture-based messaging app is notorious for its sweeping demographic of younger millennial and Gen Z users and is seeking to provide multiple avenues for users to educate themselves on how to register to vote, find polling locations and learn about different voting options.

According to a Snapchat spokesperson, the company will partner with BallotReady to launch a new “Mini” feature to help users learn about in-person and mail-in voting and grant users the option to register to vote from within the app.

“For a generation who grew up on smartphones, and are used to being able to do everything from their fingertips — to date technologies haven’t done much to make it easier for them to vote,” a Snapchat representative told The Hill.

A July study by the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning & Engagement found that 15 million people have turned 18 since the last presidential election, meaning many more young people will be eligible to vote this November.

Among the tools will be a checklist to help users complete their registration and cast a ballot on Nov. 3.

The announcement from Snapchat falls on the 55th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act.

Snapchat’s new registration tools are slated to arrive on the platform in early September.

The company rolled out a similar program for the 2018 midterms. In May, Snapchat released data showing 450,000 people registered to vote through the app that year, with 50 percent casting ballots.