GOTV Planning: Let's Bust Some Myths!
Get Out The Vote and a good Get Out The Vote plan (GOTV Plan) is something we as a firm, spend hours talking about. There is lots of lore, superstition, mythology, and bad ideas around get out the vote.
There is no cable show dedicated to busting myths about political tactics, but if there was, GOTV myths would surely be a hot topic. Over the years, there have been a lot of notions about Get Out The Vote programs that I believe are wrong. Here is my attempt to dispel these get out the vote myths and show it as a cornerstone in the foundation of any campaign plan.
15. You can start your Get Out The Vote planning after Labor Day. A real GOTV plan should be a part of your campaign plan from day one. Get out the vote is something you should be planning for a year out, not a couple of months out.
14. Separate from persuasion. Think of Get Out The Vote and persuasion as the wonder twins of your campaign planning. Separate they are okay to have around but working together they make a really powerful tool. It is not enough to just tell people to vote; you need to give them a reason to vote for your candidate.
13. It is only the domain of the field department. Turnout is everyone’s job. From the field director to the fundraiser, (donors are voters too!). If you are not a part of a campaign to identify and turnout voters, you are missing opportunities. If you want to win, Turnout plans should be integrated into everything you do. Whether that is TV or community meetings, you need to be identifying, persuading and turning out your voters.
12. Get Out The Vote is a Budget Breaker. Anything in a campaign can be a budget breaker. Campaign signs to paid TV can all bust your budget. Spending left unchecked can be the downfall of any campaign. If everything is part of a comprehensive campaign plan and budget, with real deliverables and outcomes, you will be on the right track.
11. It can’t be measured. Testing and measurement separates good campaigns from bad. You need to have results for everything you do in a campaign. A well-run GOTV plan has real measurable components: number of doors knocked, number of phone calls made, number of cable TV spots up during early vote, etc. All of these things can and should be part of a GOTV plan. Pulling control groups for mail and canvass operations is another way to judge success, but just making sure your team is accountable for goals will help you measure success.
10. It is a waste of money. When you lose a race by less than 1 percent of the vote I am sure you wish you put more money into identifying and turning out your voters. I know that has been a regret of mine on some close races I have worked on. Again, as long as GOTV is a part of the overall campaign plan and you have real goals for it, you can make sure it is not a waste.
9. Get Out The Vote is easy. GOTV can be fun, but it is not easy. It takes long hours and a lot of thought and campaign strategy to put together a good GOTV plan. Rewarding? Yes. Easy? Not likely.
8. It can just be done at the supermarket. Clean up on aisle five! GOTV has grown beyond someone sitting in a supermarket parking lot in a lawn chair. Your GOTV plan should be a sophisticated get out the vote program using people, message and tactics to ID and turnout your voters. This is a layered program, but one of the best get out the vote tactics is meeting voters at their doors and collecting information to act on.
7. Voter Turnout is untargeted. These days, due to budgets, strategy and time, voter turnout programs are focused on a specific universe. Whether that is door-to-door, phones, mail or online, you are not likely to turn everyone one out. You must have a specific group of targets you are focused on.
6. Get out the vote is the same in every election. If you ran the same play against every opponent you played against, would you win? I doubt it. You better know who you need to talk with and what your vote goal is. Build a strategy based on what is going on in your campaign. Get out the vote changes every election.
5. Turnout is unsophisticated. Ha! There is a ton of sophistication in today’s GOTV operation; from real-time GPS tracking of canvassers, to CPA-based vote pledges. The tactics and techniques are limitless.
4. Get Out The Vote is only for presidential campaigns. If you want to win, you need an operation to identify and turnout your vote, no matter your campaign. Your budget will not be as big as a presidential campaign budget, but it does not mean you should not do it.
3. It is only about turning out infrequent voters. GOTV is about many kinds of voters. Drop off voters in many elections will be greater than the win margin in your campaign. If you can get these folks to vote in your race for your candidate, you can significantly increase your chances of winning.
2. It is Only for Urban Areas. GOTV is for all types of areas (urban, rural suburban) and all campaigns. To be clear, there is not a one-size-fits-all solution for GOTV. It must be customized for each campaign. But, don’t think you can just phone it in. You need an integrated get out the vote program that works for your community.
1. GOTV is one day. A GOTV plan is not just for Election Day anymore. Due to early vote and no excuses absentee voting, in many places over 50 percent of the vote will be cast before Election Day. Use that time to turnout and inform the voters you need. If you are just running a one-day program, you are likely missing the boat. Even in my home state of New York, where there is only voting on Election Day (and a limited absentee program), to have a real GOTV plan you still need to spend months identifying the voters you need and getting them to vote for you. This takes months, not days.
Bonus GOTV Myths:
Your Out of town Friends can't help: No matter where you live your friends can help through calls or post cards. Using a neighbor to neighbor post card program or calling program,
Digital Doesn't Work for GOTV - Relational organizing tools can help you harness the power of digital for get out the vote.
Here are some other great resources on Get Out The Vote:
http://isps.yale.edu/research/publications/isps05-006#.Vx4YA5MrJBw
http://www.amazon.com/Get-Out-Vote-Increase-Turnout/dp/0815732678
http://www.nonprofitvote.org/our-partners/national-partners/
Have questions about building a GOTV plan? Get in touch!