Democratic GOTV

Get Out The Vote (GOTV) scripts are important because, in the vast majority of cases, they are your last chance to talk to your campaign’s core supporters to encourage them to vote. Therefore, it’s important that you make a lasting impression with these people and engage with them in a way that will resonate enough that they’ll take an hour (or six) out of their day to go vote.

Get Out the Vote (GOTV) matters. Campaigns demand long hours, uncomfortable conversations about fundraising, and massive dedication from the candidate, the campaign team, staffers, and volunteers. After all the resources (including your sanity) are poured into your campaign, a robust GOTV strategy and efforts are vital to end on a high note. 

Todd Rogers is a professor of public policy at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and is a behavioral scientist who has done research on increasing communication skills between families, educators, and students, employees, consumers, and voters. He is the faculty director of the Harvard Behavioral Insight Group, which focuses on using behavioral science for public good. Todd co-founded the Analyst Institute, which focuses on measuring and improving the impact of progressive campaigns on voter communication and everyday labs, which works with school districts to reduce absenteeism and increased learning by better communication with families. He is also the author of the new Writing for Busy Readers, which came out in September of this year, and is a practical guide for writing more effectively and practically to increase communication skills. This week we asked him 7 questions about his work and career. 

You can check out the Podcast interview here. 

Digital GOTV over the past couple of cycles has really moved into a must have for every campaign. In the past, GOTV tactics were limited to door-knocking, phone calls, and depending on the level of the campaign, maybe some TV spots. However, in the digital age, there is a whole new set of effective options that you can use to mobilize your supporters on Election Day. Whether you use mobile devices to track canvas crews, Facebook to mobilize volunteers, SMS to move core supporters to action, or IP targeting, geo-fencing and cookie targeting to reach voters; there are a ton of options for digital GOTV tactics. Below are a few ways you can utilize digital GOTV.

A good digital GOTV plan, is not your father’s get out the vote effort. It used to be that GOTV was driven by walk lists, yard signs, door hangers, coffee and doughnuts. But as folks start to focus more on digital GOTV, having an actual plan to push turnout digitally is a must in our interconnected world. You still need the doughnuts and door hangers, but digital will add a layer of outreach that you did not have before.

Before we dive down into the dos and don’ts, of helping your County Democratic Party , let's take some time and talk about what a County Democratic Party should do.