Early Voting, Absentee Voting, and the Importance of a Solid GOTV Plan When Running for Political Office
Elections are no longer a single day. So how do you prepare for an 'Election Day' that is actually weeks long? Here are 6 tips to consider so you can build successful GOTV/EV/AV plans.
It used to be that all the efforts that went into a political campaign were geared toward a singular event: Election Day.
Today, more and more voters are casting their ballot for elected office early — and in a multitude of ways. According to the U.S. Census, roughly 70% of all votes cast in the 2020 general election were tallied prior to Election Day via absentee, mailed ballot, or in-person early voting.
Allowing voters to cast their ballots early has helped increase voter turnout because it’s made the process more convenient for Americans, many of whom live busy lives and can’t always find the time to vote in person on Election Day. The extra voting time and options have also made it helpful for Americans who find themselves out of town on Election Day, or who have disabilities that make it difficult for them to vote in person.
Many (but not all) states have passed laws in recent years either allowing for early in-person voting or relaxed rules for absentee voting — including the key battleground states of Arizona, Ohio, and Virginia.
A full breakdown of states allowing for early voting can be found below.
While these extended voting periods — which can be as much as 6 weeks in some places — have helped keep voter participation high, they’ve also made it that much more difficult for political campaigns to successfully “get out the vote” (GOTV). Instead of just making a single plan for their GOTV/Election Day Operations (EDO), campaigns must have multiple plans in place for both traditional voters and those taking advantage of the early and/or absentee voting opportunities in their state.
How can your political campaign best plan for Early & Absentee Voting?
Having solid GOTV plans in place for both the Early/Absentee Vote and the traditional EDO is crucial to running a successful political campaign.
Following are some tips to keep in mind while crafting your GOTV game plans:
Start early. If possible, try to have the framework of your GOTV plans in place prior to Labor Day (or close to it). The earlier you can get a jump start on your GOTV efforts — especially if your state allows for extended periods of Early Voting — the more success you will have in reaching your target audiences.
Target your efforts. All you need to win an election (in most cases) is to win 50% of the voting population plus 1 voter — i.e., a simple majority. Have a plan to turn out your “core supporters” (both Early/Absentee and EDO) and then focus on winnable segments of the voting populations that will collectively get you to that 50% + 1 when all is said and done. If a voter isn’t going to ever support you, it’s not worth your campaign’s time or resources to heavily target them.
Use a variety of methods. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to GOTV/EDO. Reach out to your targeted voters in a variety of different ways, including but not limited to: door-to-door canvassing, phone banking, text messaging, email, social media, and direct mail.
Track your voters. Once a voter has cast their ballot, they’re no longer relevant to your GOTV/EDO plans. So it is critically important for candidates running in states with longer Early/Absentee Vote periods that your campaign is only targeting those who have yet to vote. Fortunately, many states will update their records to show that someone’s voted early — and then this data can be taken by political data vendors and appended to the voter file to further narrow your target audiences.
Partner with other organizations. Working in tandem with your local party organization/unit to map out your grassroots/GOTV plans is one of the best ways you can maximize your reach. Grassroots efforts typically involve a lot of manpower, and being able to share the burden of these efforts with the party at large and/or other candidates (for tasks like canvassing and phone banking, etc.) will enable you to better allocate your campaign’s primary resources for things like fundraising and communications/strategy.
Be persistent. This is probably the simplest and most important of them all. No matter what any of the polls or naysayers say, don't give up! Keep reaching out to voters until Election Day.
If you follow these six steps, you should be able to build out a solid GOTV/EV/AB/EDO campaign strategy that’ll help you make a difference in the outcome of an election.