In an attempt to get out the vote in a contentious election year, Uber is offering free rides and voting location information in its app this Election Day.
Uber is partnering with Democracy Works and #VoteTogether to provide promo codes for free rides to voters across the U.S. on Nov. 6. Riders will be able to look up their designated voting location by entering their home address into the app.
Ridesharing competitor Lyft announced back in August it would also offer free and discounted rides to the polls on Nov. 6. Organizations including Vote.org and TurboVote will help distribute nationwide 50% off codes for the Lyft app. And Lyft will also provide free rides through nonpartisan, nonprofit partners such as Voto Latino to help members of underserved communities who historically have had a harder time getting to the polls.
Midterm elections often have notoriously low turnout, perhaps four in 10 eligible Americans vote in them compared to six in 10 for presidential election years. Lyft pointed out an estimated 15 million people were registered but didn’t vote in 2016 because of transportation issues.
Uber had this caveat at the end of its announcement, however: “Any promo codes or free rides under the Uber Drives the Vote program are offered to individuals by our partner organizations and in accordance with all applicable laws and regulations, subject to Uber’s terms and conditions. Any such offer is not intended to induce, nor is it conditioned on, the act of voting, refraining from voting or voting for or against any particular candidate, political party or measure.”
