Getting Out The Vote

As every campaign nears its end, many campaign managers will refocus to a GOTV operation. To be seen as a major player in any election, you must be prepared and most well-organised campaigns will have a GOTV strategy. Ecanvasser can help you streamline this plan so you leave no stone unturned as you attempt to maximize on your canvassing.

Identifying your Voters

You have a number of options to identify your voters for a get out the vote operation.

The most straightforward is to use Ecanvasser’s political campaign software you could opt for the following guideline or key:

5 - Strong Supporter*

4 - Weak Support*

3 - Neutral Allegiance*

2 - Weak Opposition*

1 - Strong Opposition*

The above works very well, particularly if you are operating in a two-party system, a candidate from one of those two parties, and are not overly concerned with a third party, or independent candidates.

In a multi-party system, or if you happen to be a third party candidate (or independent), you could also use the reception rating in that manner; however, particularly in the long-term, it may be beneficial for you to identify not only are people opposition supports but which opponent they support.

Remove The Excuses: Organise Transport

It might seem like basic thing for many, but for others, mobility is not something to take for granted. You may lose out on many votes simply because getting to the polling station can prove an obstacle for some.

As usual, the scale of this operation will vary based upon you campaign resources, and the general scale of your campaign. At that smallest level, you might simply have a friend with a car, and while on your broad canvass your canvassers might be directing this person to houses where voters have indicated transport is required. In a campaign with greater resources, you might have multiple cars, or perhaps a mini-bus, but will likely still be organizing this transport on a somewhat ad hoc basis on polling day.

However, once you move beyond the smaller campaigns, you may wish to consider putting a little bit more organization into this. You can begin to do this by through recording, in the weeks and months leading up to an election, which voters require transport. If you wish to do so, the best way to record this information would be via Custom Field. Consider the following setup:

Name: Transport Required

Required Field: Yes

Custom Field Types: Yes/No

Depending on your level of organization, and the resources available which you can dedicate to transport, you might want to consider scheduling the pick-up times for individual people; though this might be less feasible with larger scale campaigns.

If you are using mini-buses, or if you have a significantly greater fleet with which to provide transport; you may wish to provide a more regular service on the day.
You may also wish to consider asking people for email/phone details; so as that you can reach out to people on the day to advise them as to your plan of action regarding their transport.

Poll-Striking

Poll-striking is the process whereby members of your campaign team, on an ongoing basis throughout polling day, record who has voted. This allows you to increase your targeting throughout the day, and will generally only be used by those adopting the highly-targeted approach outlined above.

It should first be noted that your ability to carry out poll-striking may vary from country to country, depending on local legislation, and the type of access a political candidate, and their campaign team, is entitled to regarding the electoral process.

If you are in a position to do so, it is advisable to use an Ecanvasser Custom Field to assist you in this process. Ideally, you will set this up during the Voter File import process (or prior to syncing your NationBuilder account with Ecanvasser). Create a column in your Voter File titled Poll-Strike, and fill the full length of the column with False. Assign this a Custom Field heading during the import, and use the following criteria:

Name: Poll-Strike

Required Field: No

Custom Field Types: True/False

On the day of voting, you can then change the Required Field option to Required, to bring it front and center.