HeadCount, a non-profit, nonpartisan organization promoting participation in democracy, has announced that they have registered over 1 million voters since its founding in 2004. Nearly have of those registrations occurred during the 2020 election cycle.

The organization has spent most of its history registering voters at concerts and music festivals. However, they shifted to a primarily digital approach due to the COVID-19 pandemic. According to a press release, their efforts “led to some of the most viral pop culture moments of this election cycle,” including their partnerships with YouTuber David Dobrik (who gave away five Teslas), the Grateful Dead’s Bob Weir (who texted directly with fans), Tina Fey (who reunited the cast of Mean Girls), Cardi B, Weird Al, Anne Hathaway, Slash and many more. With their partners Global Citizen, Headcount also organized memorabilia giveaways from Taylor Swift and Billie Eilish.

“The pandemic created challenges, but the election wasn’t going to wait for concerts to come back so we just had to get more creative,” said live music entrepreneur (and Relix publisher) Peter Shapiro, who also serves as HeadCount’s board chair. “Our internal goal, which was set when we were still organizing around concerts, was to register 200,000 new voters. We ended up with over 425,000 for this election and it got us to 1 million all time.”

“I’ve watched the organization grow from an idea to a force,” said Bob Weir, who has been a member of HeadCount’s board since the its early days. “And now we’ve found new ways to connect and increase voter turnout when it’s more important than ever.”

According to a press release, “HeadCount’s campaigns this year go beyond voter registration. Last month, the organization launched its ‘Make Your Vote Count’ campaign, which seeks to educate voters about common mistakes that can put their ballot at risk of being invalidated. They’ve also launched the ‘How to Talk to Your Friends about Voting’ campaign, which serves as a resource guide to help young people start the conversation with friends about voting without feeling awkward or frustrated.

For more information, visit Headcount.org.