Get Out The Vote

Paid for by Democracy for America, www.democracyforamerica.com, and not authorized by any

candidate or candidates committee.

Election Day is whenever they vote!

Early voting

Absentee voting

32 no-excuse early voting states

28 no-excuse absentee mail states

2008: 28.8% voted early 9 states have

registration

9 states have same day

registration voting!

2010: 28.6% voted early

2012: 30.7% voted early

Source: Catalist

All Registered Voters

Target Universe of Voters

Supporters (1s) Undecided (2,3, 4s) Haters (5s)

Persuasion (2,3,4s)

GOTV Universe

Likely Supporters Not IDd

No More Contact

Is Your Universe Big Enough?

No!

What do I do now?

- Increase voter turnout in base

precincts

- Turnout likely demographics

(your likely voters)

- Turnout voters in hostile

territory (the stealth operation)

Yes!

Congrats!

Getting Ready

Prioritize your precinctsSecure your staging locations

Recruit and train your staff &

volunteers

GOTV Director

Extra Field Organizers

Paid Walkers or Callers

Volunteers

Know your timelines and benchmarks Vote by mail

Early Vote

Election Day

Tactics: What Works?

Effect on Turnout

1) Direct mail

2) Literature Drops

3) Voice to Voice contact by

phone

4) Person to Person contact by

door canvassing

Highlighted Best Practices

Canvassing

- Mobilization spillover (Nickerson, 2008)

- Door hangers (Nickerson, Friedrichs, and King, 2006; Nickerson, 2005)

Scripts

- Emphasize high or low expected turnout (Gerber and Rogers, 2008)

- Emphasize national or local organization (McNulty, 2004)

- Plan making: ask logistical questions (Analyst Institute, 2008)

- Emphasize that You are a person who votes! (OCV, 2009)

Tactics: What Doesnt Work?

Dont use robo-calls for GOTV Robo-calls have no impact, whether from celebrities, in Spanish, from member organizations, or having political endorsements.

Dont use email for GOTVGOTV emails do not increase turnout, regardless of whether they are from celebrities, college administrators, or membership organizations.

Dont use rushed, short, live GOTV calls. Rushed live calls with no interaction have negligible impact.

Dont use traditional glossy mail for GOTVIt is not cost-effective for GOTV. Handwritten mail (e.g. pledge cards), mail that leverages voter identity and social accountability, and persuasion mail can increase turnout.

GOTV Early Vote & VBM Examples

Early Vote: Treat it like every day is election day

VBM (Vote by Mail): Most traditional mail doesnt work.* Official Looking black and white looks best* No Message just provide the service

Effective GOTV Script Tips

Remind people that voting records are public .

Talk voters through a voting plan .

Remind voters of their previous commitment to vote .

Emphasize high expected turnout in election and that their vote matters .

Emphasize that you are local .

Highlight voter identity .

(Also, explain to volunteers why script is important!)

Effective GOTV Script

Hi Chris, this is Kelley Im a volunteer in the Whittier neighborhood calling from the OByrne campaign.

Official records show that you are a voter and we are calling voters like you to say thank you.

Thank you for being a voter ! (pause)

Since you are the kind of person who votes and cares about the community , we want to let you know Claudia OByrne has a history of getting things done for us as a city councilor and wants to bring that track record to the capitol as a state representative.

Can we count on your vote on November 4?

Local

Public Record

Identity labeling: Voting = positive

Candidate name and basic info

Commitment to vote

Effective GOTV Script

High turnout, part of the herd

Youve got power

Voting plan

Thank you and accountability

Great! We are calling people in Whittier and it looks like alot of people will be voting this year .

It is an exciting racebut its going to be close and your vote can make the difference .

Your polling place is Hobart Elementary on Fairfax. On Election Day, polls are open from 7 am to 7 pm. Do you know when you might go to vote? In the morning, afternoon, evening? (pause)

So do you think youll head to the polling place from your home, work, or somewhere else ? Do you know how youll get there? Do you need a ride? Great!

Again, thank you for being a good citizen who votes, and for your promise to vote this year . We hope to be able to thank you again for voting on Tuesday, November 4th.

Calculate Volunteer Shifts

Smith Township Needs

Vote Goal = 11,496

Early Vote = 2875

Remaining Voters = 8622

We can make:

25 GOTV phone contacts/ hour 8 GOTV door contacts/ hour 3 hours to a volunteer shift

So we will need

345 volunteer phone hours (115 vol. shifts), OR 1078 volunteer door hours (360 vol. shifts), OR 90 Phone shifts (6750 voters) + 78 Canvass shifts (1872 voters)

Vote By Mail Timeline(Working from Election Day back)

11/2 - CHASE!!! 10/26 - 11/2 - VOLUNTEER CHASE!!! 10/22 - 10/25 - CHASE LIVE CALLS - (PAID) 10/21 - GOTV mail arrives with ballots 10/18 - Begin returning VBM requests to Election officials 10/14 - GOTV mail created and to printer 10/12 - VBM requests received - data entry daily 10/9 - 10/16 - Live chase calls for VBM requests 10/7 - Robo reminder call for VBM requests 10/5 - VBM request cards sent to targeted group

The 4 Day Ramp Up

Monday

- GOTV rally

- Canvasses and Phonebanks at maximum all day

- Visibilities, door hangers, final mail reminder

- Refine your universe w/ data and EV info

Saturday & Sunday

- Canvasses and Phonebanks at maximum all day

- Visibilities, door hangers, final mail reminder

- Goal of going through GOTV universe twice

Friday

- All data entered and universe set - no more persuasion!

- Turf cut (and printed!), canvass packets created

- Everything is ready

- Get some sleep

ELECTION DAY!

Phonebanks and Canvasses

Poll watchers - Prioritize key precincts- Call in turnout numbers - Report any funny stuff at the polls

Boiler room

- Reallocated resources where

needed

- Information center on Election

Day