Lyft to offer 50 percent off rides on Election Day

Lyft isn't running for office, but it still wants to get you to the polls.

With its cleverly named "Ride to Vote" campaign, the ride-hailing service is offering discounts and reminders to help voters cast their ballots this fall. Most notably, Lyft plans to hand out 50 percent off vouchers and free rides for voters underserved by transportation to use on Election Day, per its plan announced Thursday.

In 2016, 15 million registered voters faced transportation issues that stopped them from getting to the polls, the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement estimates. So across the country, Lyft will partner with voter turnout organizations to divvy up vouchers good for half-off rides on Nov. 6. Areas that face "significant obstacles to transportation" will get free rides to their polling places, Lyft's plan says. The app's internal map will help direct users to a voting spot if they don't know where it is.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Beyond transportation, Lyft also says it wants to boost voter registration and help users learn what's at stake in their elections. Lyft users can expect push notifications reminding them of registration deadlines, and the company will work with its nonprofit partners to push voting information online. Company employees will also have opportunities to register in a Lyft office.

All of this is most likely to benefit poor voters, as well as Hispanic, black, and other ethnic minorities, Lyft hints in its plan's footnotes. That's because nearly half of nonvoters have an annual family income under $30,000, and 43 percent are minorities. Read more about how Lyft will pull voters to the polls here.