Friendly Reminder to Celebs: Send Your ‘Go Vote’ Tweets Before Polls Close!
I revisited one of my favorite tweets of all time from NBA legend James Harden: a reminder to vote in 2022 that he posted 5 minutes before polls closed in some states.
Photo: Getty Images Politics 2024 Election
Celebrities love a good get-out-the-vote social media post, whether it’s Katy Perry sticking her head through a giant, cut-out “I VOTED” sticker for her Instagram followers, or Hailey Bieber sharing a new photo of her baby Jack Blues wearing an “I VOTED” sticker. Good for them for early voting! But for celebrities, influencers, and, ahem, NBA players who may be waiting for Election Day—tomorrow!—to hit send on their voting posts, a little reminder: Try to get those posts up more than five minutes before polls close.
don’t forget to vote today!
— James Harden (@JHarden13) November 8, 2022
Yes, I’ll admit I am subtweeting one person in particular: my favorite basketball player and human being, James Harden of the Los Angeles Clippers. In 2022, during the midterms, likely sensing that voter turnout might be down because it wasn’t a presidential election, Harden tweeted out a gentle nudge to his followers: “don’t forget to vote today!” Thanks, James! Except, there was only one small problem: the tweet was sent at 5:54 p.m. ET, just minutes before polls closed in many counties in Kentucky and Indiana, where some counties are on Eastern time and some are on Central time. And it was posted just one hour before polls closed in states like Georgia, Virginia, and South Carolina, and an hour-and-a-half before they closed in North Carolina, Ohio, and West Virginia. Polls close in most states at around 8 or 9 p.m., but whichever way you look at it, Harden was definitely cutting it close.
Rise & Grind!
— James Harden (@JHarden13) September 16, 2022
The tweet reminded me and other social media users and NBA Twitter regulars of another Hall of Fame tweet Harden had posted just a few weeks earlier—on September 16, 2022, at 12:42 p.m. ET, to be precise: “Rise & grind!” he triumphantly declared. A generous reading of this tweet could be that he was maybe on Pacific time or Hawaiian time, but even still, 9:42 a.m. is well into the workday for most office employees, so… (Replies to this tweet range from “its 1 pm” and “It’s past noon Jimbo!” to “this is why you’re the goat” and “yessir King ur so amazing.”)
In response to Harden’s 2022 get-out-the-vote tweet, one user wrote, “Just got done voting, rise and grind baby.” (Haha! Get it???) Another stipulated, “Join the Lakers first then I’ll vote.” Fair! “If I can’t vote you for President then why vote,” another user said—also fair! “I forgot thanks for reminding me Harden,” tweeted another.
Could Harden have sent that tweet earlier? Sure. But I’ll say it: It’s the thought that counts! And if his last-minute plea for his followers to participate in the democratic process sent even one more voter to the polls, I salute him. That said, if he’s still planning to send a get-out-the-vote post this year, we really are coming down to the wire—James, if you’re reading this, feel free to hit send on it right now. Also: I love you!
For all the details on what time polls close where, how and where to vote, and your rights as a voter, visit IWillVote.com.