Selena Gomez Never Voted Before the 2020 Election & Fans Have Mixed Feelings About That

Over on Twitter, it looks like Selena Gomez is being slammed for not voting before the 2020 election. The 28-year-old singer admitted during her Voting Power Hour appearance on October 24 that this year marked her first time ever voting in a U.S. election after not feeling like her vote mattered in the past. While “better late than never” certainly applies here, some critics on social media can’t help but feel torn about why the Texas native would admit something like this—especially given her recent advocacy surrounding voter registration.

Like many celebrities ahead of this election season, Gomez has been vocal when it comes to voter education and joining conversations covering topics like voter suppression, the electoral college, and campaign funding. The pop star voiced some of these themes in an episode of Netflix’s Whose Vote Counts: Explained series, which she shared to Instagram on September 24, and even serves as a co-chair for Michelle Obama’s When We All Vote initiative. But some fans are wary of her recent dedication after hearing what she had to say in response to a young voter from Michigan named Sam, who asked Gomez about her first voting experience. Surprisingly, her first time voting happened to be shared in a selfie to Instagram on October 23. “Just finished filling out my ballot!” she captioned her post.

“Honestly, I’m not ashamed to say this but I kind of—this was my first time. And I’m going to say that because I never felt—and this is so true—and I’m now like admitting it to people, like my vote counts,” she said during the Power Hour live stream event on October 24. “Like, every little thing counts so I just think some people get in their head, like, oh well, what does it matter? And then once I really, really started going in and diving into this, it’s been all I can focus on.”

Source: Instagram

Some fans supported Gomez for her transparency. As one Twitter user shared, “she was being honest with her audience. that takes courage and has a lot of respect associated to it. she coulda easily lied and no-one would’ve known. she educated herself and is informed now and is informing millions along with her.” But others are not so pleased with the star.

https://twitter.com/fvckwithya/status/1320191120739975170?s=20 https://twitter.com/megbotz/status/1321159621772333056?s=20 https://twitter.com/_j_fer/status/1321110661447839745?s=20

“I like Selena but let’s be honest about this,” wrote another Twitter user. “She was old enough to vote in the 2010 midterms, the 2012 election, 2014 midterms, 2016 election, AND 2018 midterms before this year. That’s FIVE times that she didn’t think voting was important enough for her to do it.”

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In their following tweet, the user added, “She is relatively extraordinarily privileged and her vote could help protect the most vulnerable people in this country and she didn’t do it. That sucks. Again, I like the girl. But it’s understandable that people feel hurt by that.”