It’s “Get Out the Vote” Season – aka reminding our communities that there’s an election around the corner! But not all get-out-the-vote has to be a coordinated phonebank or textbank campaign!
In fact, we’re here to say that whatever integrates most seamlessly and quickly within your existing services is going to be the most effective!
Here are eight ideas on how to do low-lift GOTV AND get your community #VoteReady.
1. Manage a residence? Share the polling place!
If you run an affordable housing unit, homeless shelter, or residential group home, share the polling location for that address. Everyone registered at that address will vote at that location on election day and saves them from looking up where they’d need to go. Share it on a 4×6 postcard, a 8×11 print-out, or just send it an email!
Next step: Lookup your Election Day voting location here.
2. Check in on your most vulnerable
Check in on Election Day or beforehand with a wellness call to your seniors, unhoused neighbors, clients with disabilities, or others who might need a helping hand. Offer a ride, a group walk to the election office, or just check in to see if something is getting in the way of them voting.
Next step: Pick a way that you’d normally communicate with your vulnerable community members
3. Send a PSA about the date of the election
Many may not realize there are thousands of local elections this year! A simple reminder of the date of the election could be super helpful to those just taking it day to day. Post the Election Day date in your office, newsletter, or volunteer list. Bonus points if you can encourage caseworkers/staff to mention it in their 1-1’s over the next few weeks!
Next step: Get all the dates relevant to your state here or just promote Tuesday, November 4th as Election Day!
4. Engage your coworkers and staff!
Print a quick flyer or bookmark with your state’s voting dates. Hang it in your breakroom, front lobby, or your cubicle. Even nonprofit staff get too busy with life and sometimes just need an encouraging nudge to put it back on the priority list. Have a group chat or email list? That’s a great way too!
Next step: Pick a non-intrusive, but visible IRL or virtual way that coworkers might see an election day reminder
5. Promote the voter hotline
Did you know there’s a call, text, messenger, whatsapp, and more hotline for any voting issues that come up? 866-OUR-VOTE is a free number (also available in multiple languages!) to help voters with questions or issues. Check out 866ourvote.org
Next step: Decide if you want to share with clients, other staff, or volunteers and how (ex: virtual or in-person flyer)
6. Help people understand what’s on their ballot
Use BallotReady.org or ballotpedia to help community members preview what’s on their ballot. You can even make a free QR code that links to it, creating a shareable one-stop-shop at events, workshops, or posters.
Next step: Check out ballotready.org for your own address and especially check out their descriptions of local offices and what they do!
7. Partner up with a local expert!
Check if your local League of Women Voters or other nonpartisan groups are hosting candidate forums, rides to the polls, or voter education events. Collaboration with a local voting organization can save you some time learning about dates on your own and make you feel more confident co-hosting something!
Next step: Put in your zipcode in the League of Women Voter’s website to locate a chapter near you
8. Get your executive director or leadership to remind staff
We want our organizations to reflect values of civic and community building. A great way to demonstrate that is to have the Executive Director or similar leadership member share an email reminding about election day and highlighting any policies like time off to vote. Use our sample script and add any of the dates, polling place lookup, or links above!
Next step: Download the template email here and send it to your leadership team asking if they’d be willing to adapt it for staff!
We hope these bite-sized actionables for Get Out the Vote keeps civic engagement low-lift when life and everything else in the world is happening.
And don’t miss our webinar, “Not your Average GOTV: Using Civics to Get Out The Vote”, on October 22nd at 2pm! Register here!
