Tag Archives: get out the vote
The Most Successful Get Out the Vote Program Tactics
Alan Gerber and Donald Green’s book, Get Out the Vote, is a rigorous, research-based approach to validating various voter registration and GOTV (Get Out the Vote) drives. The authors conducted their experiments over several years in federal midterm elections, state and municipal elections, the 2000 presidential election, and various nonpartisan voter mobilization efforts.
More than 29 findings were ranked on a three-star system. A tactic that received a three-star rating was deemed most effective, meaning that the finding was implemented with a large number of voters and implemented by different groups in a variety of settings.
The findings in Gerber and Green’s research can help us develop realistic expectations about our campaigns. They cite the most effective tactics as well as the…
Who Is Most Responsive to Get Out the Vote Programs?
Frequent voters are most responsive to GOTV (Get Out the Vote) requests. This is a critical finding for organizations with ballot issues and elections in non-presidential election years.
Target frequent voters for your off-year ballot or special elections. The content of the nonpartisan message does not matter so long as it is not outlandish. Alan Gerber and Donald Green found that telling people “one vote can make a difference” when the election is anticipated to be a blowout is completely ineffective. What does help spur turnout is information on the location of polling centers and poll hours.
