Wisconsin woman uses online dating applications to reach young voters, raise turnout

 Organization working to raise voter turnout in Wisconsin through online dating applications

A Wisconsin woman is using online dating applications to reach young people nationwide and help raise voter turnout during elections, according to a local report.

Kristi Johnston is part of Next Gen. America, an organization that works toward increasing voter turnout among young Americans, WKOW-TV reported.

Johnston and the group do not push for any specific political party or candidate and instead raise awareness and remind people to get out and vote.

"We're about getting young people to vote across the board," she told the station.

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Online dating applications are being used to reach young people nationwide during elections to help raise voter turnout. (Silas Stein/picture alliance via Getty Images)

Johnston said that she and her colleagues began organizing around dating apps beginning in 2020, when they were forced to take their operation virtual due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

"We see that a lot of young people are still on Tinder, on Hinge, on Bumble, so we wanted to make sure that we were covering all of our bases and meeting people in every space that we could," Johnston said.Video

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The Wisconsin Supreme Court election held Tuesday broke the record for voter turnout during a spring election not coinciding with a presidential race.

Janet Protasiewicz, a Milwaukee County judge, defeated Republican-backed former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Dan Kelly in a state Supreme Court race on Tuesday. (John Hart/Wisconsin State Journal via AP, File)

Over 36% of eligible Wisconsin voters participated in the highly anticipated election, surpassing the previous high of 34% set in the 2011 state Supreme Court race. 

Democratic-backed Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Janet Protasiewicz won the crucial seat, defeating Republican-backed former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Dan Kelly. 

The court will now be controlled 4-3 by left-leaning justices for at least the next two years. During that time, the court is expected to decide on a pending lawsuit challenging the state’s 1849 law banning abortion.