Demi Lovato Gives Statement for the First Time Since Her Overdose, at the Voting Polls

During the 2018 midterm election cycle, more and more celebrities have been using their social media platforms to encourage voter turnout. Demi Lovato is one of them. Today, on Election Day, the artist gave her first statement since her July overdose: an endorsement for being politically active.

Lovato, who has recently left rehab following her hospitalization, looked glowing in a photo she posted from her local voting booth. “I am so grateful to be home in time to vote!” she wrote. “One vote can make a difference, so make sure your voice is heard!? ?? now go out and #VOTE!!!!”

The post is Lovato’s first on Instagram since she shared a selfie a day before her overdose. While she hasn’t addressed the incident—and is completely entitled to never do so, if she so desires—she did give her mom permission to talk about it. In September, her mother, Dianna De La Garza, offered an update on Lovato’s status, saying she’s “doing really well.”

“She’s happy. She’s healthy,” De La Garza told Newsmax TV. “She’s working on her sobriety, and she’s getting the help she needs. And that, in itself, encourages me about her future and about the future of our family.”

Her mom also talked about the moment she first saw Lovato in the hospital. “She just didn’t look good—at all. She was in bad shape,” she recalled. “But I said to her, ‘Demi, I’m here. I love you.’ And at that point she said back to me, ‘I love you, too.’ From that point on, I never allowed myself to ever think that things weren’t gonna be OK. I prayed, of course, all the way to the hospital, and my faith is strong. And I think that’s one of things that got me through the next couple of days, when she was in critical condition. We just didn’t know for two days if she was going to make it or not.”

All of those well-wishes and social media tributes helped Lovato, in De La Garza’s opinion. “I just feel like the reason she’s alive today is because of the millions of prayers that went up that day, when everybody found out what was happening,” she said. “I don’t think she would be here if it hadn’t been for those prayers and the good doctors at Cedars-Sinai. They were the best. I couldn’t have asked for a better team of people to save her life.”