Don’t Sleep on Your GOTV Plan — A step-by-step guide to getting started
Imagine this: It’s early October and you realize there’s less than a month before election day. Volunteers are pouring in and asking how they can help. Everything is moving quickly and your to-do list is overwhelming.
And then someone asks, “What’s your GOTV plan?”
But you haven’t had time to think about it.
You’re not even sure what a GOTV plan is.
This scenario is unfortunately common, particularly for first time candidates.
What is GOTV?
Get Out the Vote, aka GOTV, is an incredibly important period of time on the campaign trail: it’s the final stretch of your field plan before election day.
Typically, a GOTV effort is put into motion in the 1–4 weeks before election day (1 week for poll voters, 4 weeks for mail/early voters.) During this time, the goal of your field plan shifts from persuading and ID’ing voters to increasing voter turnout and driving supporters to the polls. (For more on ID’ing voters, see our Field 101 blog series.)
During GOTV, your campaign reaches out to known supporters via phone banking, texting, door-to-door canvassing, and digital (social, email, and ads). These efforts peak in the final 72 hours before an election with an intense push to make sure your most loyal supporters show up to vote for you.
How do I create a GOTV plan?
Step 0: Preparation: Having a good field plan is fundamental to GOTV. A successful GOTV effort requires good, clean data and lots of voter IDs from the previous months. Consider all your field efforts and tracking as preparation for GOTV.
Step 1: Identify your targets: The first step is to make a list of your supporters using the voter IDs your team has collected. Then, expand the list to include likely supporters using voter data like party registration status and voting history. (For example, in a race against a Republican, make sure you include Democrats who have voted in the last 3/3 elections in your GOTV efforts — they’re likely to vote for you.)
If you need to expand the list further, you could create a secondary target group out of registered Dems who have spotty or inconsistent voting records. However, this group should not be lumped into your priority targets. While they could be inspired to vote through effective GOTV messaging, you also run the risk of wasting time and resources on people who don’t know you and aren’t motivated to show up for you.
Step 2: Craft your messaging: Whereas messaging until now has been focused on persuasion, GOTV messaging shifts to logistics: what is their plan to vote? Make sure voters have their polling locations, know what time polls open and close, and have a plan for when they’ll be there on election day. Will they vote on their way to work or on their lunch break? Do they have access to reliable transportation? If not, who could they carpool with? It might seem intrusive to ask them this level of information, but research shows voters who think through the details of how they’ll vote are considerably more likely to follow through on election day.
Step 3: Set your tactics: With your targets identified and messaging set, it’s time to decide how you’ll reach supporters. Common tactics include texting, phone-banks, door-to-door canvassing, direct mail, digital ads, social media, email, and appearances at community events in your priority precincts.
Step 4: Prepare and support your team members: Up until now, your field team has been persuading and IDing voters for months. Now, they’ll need training and guidance on the new messaging and how the goal of the field plan is shifting. This includes creating GOTV-specific scripts for messaging for consistency and coaching as needed.
You’ll also need to increase the number of shifts and possibly the length of the work day to reach your goals — ideally, all target voters should hear from you no less than two times during this period of time, more if possible. In terms of your team, this means making sure they have drinks and snacks, breaks, and other support as needed.
It All Ramps Up on Election Day
Election Day GOTV efforts are on another level. Imagine everything you’ve been doing times 100, PLUS poll checking and crisis management. This section deserves it’s own blog post, but here are a few stand-out best practices:
Run multiple phone banks to call voters and offer rides to the polls if needed.
Check-in with polling places to monitor voter turnout and remove targets from your call and walk lists who already voted.
Keep volunteers and staff motivated through the final stretch! (Bribing them with pizza and caffeine is my go-to.)
Monitor progress closely and adapt as needed — even the most well-oiled machines need to be watched and adjusted for efficiency. Being adaptable and attentive is key.
Don’t stop until polls close! Every phone call, text message, and door knock has the potential to get one more person to vote. And isn’t that the point? You’re going to be wired on adrenaline and simultaneously so exhausted you can barely think. Keep going.
Every Vote Counts
With good planning and a collective commitment to turning out as many of your supporters as possible, GOTV can be the difference between winning and losing. In the campaign world, there are few things more painful than losing by a handful of votes. A well executed GOTV plan will ensure you don’t leave votes on the table.
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