Election season is upon us, with the usual flurry of activity and excitement and a sense of dread. For some, dealing with politics is enough to make them want to hide under a rock until it’s all over. Regardless, politics affects everyone. And with so much at stake this year, it’s more important than ever to make our voices heard.
The good news is that you don’t have to be a political junkie to make a difference. The basic idea behind GOTV (Get Out The Vote) efforts is to target those less likely to vote and get them to the polls on election day. And while that may appear like a daunting task, several research-backed strategies can help you be successful. The political consulting firm will walk you through some of the most effective ways to get out the vote.
Also, this blog post will explore some of these strategies and provide you with a few actionable tips that you can use to increase voter turnout in your community.
What Should The Entire Get-Out-The-Vote Campaign Plan Look Like?
Suppose you’re interested in targeting many people or don’t have enough staff to begin door-to-door canvassing immediately. In that case, you can start GOTV efforts three to seven days before election day.
3 – 7 Days Before Election Day
- The volunteers begin by knocking on the doors of registered supporters, helping them create a strategy, and reminding them to vote—drop literature for non-homebound supporters.
- Make sure your candidate is going out and meeting people in high-traffic areas. Meet-and-greet events at community centers, grocery stores, and bus stops are good locations.
- Start GOTV phone banking efforts.
2 Days Before Election Day
- Voter contact operations continue. Make a point to contact people who could not be contacted previously and encourage them to vote.
- When you have a lot of on-the-ground volunteers and can’t reach everyone, mobile banking and texting campaigns are used in addition to door-to-door canvassing.
- Distribute information to the poll workers.
Day Before Election
- Targeted supporters who could not be contacted using phone calls and house visits during the prior days.
- Make sure your candidate is visible in the community, shaking hands and greeting voters.
- Create a successful social media campaign and broadcast GOTV messages to targeted voters.
Election Day
- Send out final election day texts.
- Continue GOTV phone banking efforts till the polls close.
- By evening, you should know who has voted and who has not. This is when you target those who have not yet voted with a final push to get them to the polls before they close.
What are The Most Effective Get Out The Vote(GOTV) Strategies?
Political campaign strategies vary depending on the available resources, but some research-backed strategy have proven to be more effective than others.
The study supports particular GOTV strategies that have been proven to encourage people to vote. GOTV efforts should include the following:
Help Voters Make a Plan
GOTV efforts should focus on persuading voters to plan how they will vote. This could involve providing them with information about their polling place or giving them a rideshare voucher to get to their polling place on election day.
In this regard, the approach works best on individuals who remain single. These individuals are less likely to have a strategy than those who continue to participate in groups or families were discussing the following day’s activities is commonplace. For individuals who spend every day alone, preparing their Election Day routine with a stranger significantly impacts whether or not they will go to the polls.
Create Well-informed Voters
Voters need to feel like their vote will make a difference, and they are more likely to show up at the polls when they feel informed about the issues.
GOTV campaigns should provide potential voters with information about the ballot initiatives and candidates. This could be done through literature drops, door-to-door canvassing, or phone banking.
In addition, GOTV campaigns should dispel any myths about voting that might prevent people from going to the polls. For instance, some people might believe that they will be arrested if they have outstanding parking tickets. Others might think that they need to bring their passport to vote.
It’s essential to correct these misconceptions so that people feel confident about going to the polls and exercising their right to vote.
Persuade Through Social Pressure
Social pressure may be utilized in various ways to encourage people to vote. Here are some other effective social pressure strategies:
- Sending someone a letter that explains their voting history.
- Thanking people who have voted in the past.
- Emphasizing that many individuals participate in the election, so the recipient should also.
With this approach, people are more likely to vote because they feel like they would be let their community down if they did not participate.
Persuade Through Peer Pressure
People are encouraged to participate in elections as a result of social norms. When a message comes from someone in the voter’s network, the motivation to follow social conventions is greater.
This technique is particularly successful in turning out minority communities and young people. Getting the message out to a neighbor, friend, or another student on their campus is more effective than getting it from a stranger.
Contact Repeatedly
Door-to-door campaigns, phone calls, and face-to-face interactions have all been proven to increase turnout among people with low participation.
A good practice is to call a voter at least four times during the campaign. However, making contact with someone at least twice increases your chances of receiving a vote.
The touchpoints for this campaign might be:
- A gentle greeting as you introduce yourself and the campaign.
- Voter identification campaign.
- Contacting potential supporters early in the GOTV campaign to verify their involvement.
- Before or on election day, send them a GOTV message to remind them of their promise to support and ask them to vote.
Use Negative Campaigning
A study found that voters contacted by a campaign that used negative campaigning were more likely to turn out and vote than those reached by a campaign that did not use negative campaigning.
It’s important to note that this approach should only be used in a confident campaign that its candidate will win. If the campaign is not confident, it should focus on positive campaigning instead.
Political campaign firms will use this strategy to increase their candidate’s chance of winning.
The Bottom Line
Many strategies can be used to increase voter turnout. It’s important to tailor the approach to the target audience and use a mix of tactics to ensure maximum impact. With proper planning and with the help of a political consulting firm, these GOTV strategies can be highly effective in getting people to the polls.
