Facebook uses its power to increase the number of young voters

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The social-media powerhouse Facebook tapped into its market over the millenials last week and urged them to register to vote.

And it worked.

Last Friday, the state saw a record one-day voter registration spike of 14,824, according to information from the state’s Secretary of State office.

Washington residents 18 and older were reminded to register on their Facebook news feed and provided a link to do so.

“We welcome all of these new voters and hope they will become lifelong voters and take part in public life,” Secretary of State Kim Wyman said in a statement.

In Clark County, 1,271 new voters registered over a five-day span last week.

“When talking with staff, they say this uptick in the amount of voters is comparable to new voters after the Bernie Sanders rally. After the Bernie Sanders rally, we had 4,500 voters register for the first time, or current voters update their address,” said Cathie Garber, with the Clark County elections office.