Get Out the Vote (GOTV) is a topic can easily fill hundreds of pages. We’ve boiled it down to the most important components: - Proven GOTV scripts for success - Latest GOTV developments - What doesn't work - What works

2. Thank you for reading “GOTV: Script, Tips & Tactics".
Get out the vote (GOTV) is a lot like exercise. Everyone
knows they should do it but not everyone does it well or
does it at all.
This guide will teach GOTV dos and don’ts based on the
latest available research on the subject. We break down
the the topic into four easily-manageable parts:
- Latest GOTV developments
- What doesn't work
- What works
- Proven GOTV scripts for success
You might think you can skip over the section on the latest
developments and go right into what works. Feel free to
do so, but getting the most out of the proven tactics
included in this guide depends upon understanding why
what works, actually does work. When a donor or
advisor urges you to do a GOTV activity (like robocalls) on
the list of what doesn't work you should be able to
articulate why you've decided not to pay for those calls.
GOTV is a topic can easily fill hundreds of pages. We’ve
boiled it down to the most important components so you
can maximize your time and resources.
If you have any questions about this book or suggestions
for improvements please email me at
trevor@equipgop.com.
Thanks,
Trevor Bragdon
Introduction
TABLE OF CONTENTS
GOTV One Pager 3
Latest GOTV Findings 4
Thank you for voting 5
Voting and self-identity 9
Making a plan to vote 11
Voting pledges 14
What Doesn’t Work 18
What Works 21
Sample Scripts 24
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running for local office by providing the quality guides and online video courses
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Notes:
Whenever possible we directly link to any source cited. Additionally, any book
reference contains an Amazon.com (non-affiliate) link if you are interested in
reading further.
Thank you to everyone who provided feedback and special thanks to Chris
Cinquemani for editing this guide.
Get Out the Vote: Scripts, Tips & Tactics
© 2014 Trevor Bragdon and EquipGOP. All rights reserved.
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4. LATEST FINDINGS
Thank individuals for
voting before an
election to increase
turnout
Use the noun “voter”...
instead of verb “vote”
Specific plans to vote
increase turnout
among certain voters
Collect pledges to
vote
Get Out the Vote has evolved over the last decade. Now more than ever,
voters value interactions that are perceived as high-cost, such as door to
door and volunteer phone calls, over low-cost mass produced interactions.
High-cost interactions take more time and planning but pay off on Election
Day. Plan ahead for GOTV in your campaign. Don’t waste money on a last
minute, low-value scheme. Embrace what works and win.
EquipGOP.com
GOTV
One
Pager
WHAT WORKS
Door-to-Door
Direct Mail
Thanking Voters
Live Volunteer
Phone Calls
Voter Pledge
Cards
Text Messages
WHAT DOESN’T WORK
Literature Drops
Generic GOTV
Mail
Robocalls
Bad Live Phone
Calls
GOTV Emails

5. In the last decade, the field of GOTV has seen
massive change. Long-held assumptions have been
tested and proven false while new techniques and
tactics have been scientifically proven to work. In
this section we highlight four of the most
significant findings in GOTV research.
You’ll learn how to increase turnout:
• 10 percent with a single, simple letter
• By changing a verb to a noun in a GOTV script
• By helping voters map their actions on Election
Day
• By having voters pledge their support months
ahead of the election
This guide is by no means a one-stop resource for
all things GOTV. However, these four sections are
the most important for Republican candidates to
understand and create the best opportunity to
increase turnout on Election Day.
Latest GOTV Findings
IN THIS SECTION
• Thank you for voting
• Voting and self-identity
• Making a plan to vote
• Voting pledges
Latest developments in Get Out the Vote strategies
EquipGOP.com
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6. Every year dozens and state and local elections
are decided by just a handful of votes. In 2012,
New Hampshire Republicans kept their State
Senate majority by 213 votes. That same year,
Maine Republicans lost their State Senate majority
by a total of 1,174 votes. For close races, even a
small increase in voter turnout can make all the
difference.
Voter mobilization, or get out the vote (GOTV), has
significantly changed in the last decade.
Advanced research and testing, particularly by
Democrat and progressive groups, has led to many
new techniques to motivate people to go to the
polls. The greatest advances have come from
applying behavioral psychology to standard
GOTV techniques. Even with a limited budget,
Republican campaigns and committees can adopt
proven GOTV tactic. A simple one-page letter
mailed the week before an election can increase
turnout by 10 percent.
Over the years, most GOTV phone scripts and
direct mail messages focused on the “voting is
your civic duty” and “you should exercise your
right to vote” theme. Appealing to patriotism and
citizenship seemed to work at least in the late
1980s and 1990s. But current research shows this
message has little to
no effect on today’s
voters, especially
when delivered by
direct mail or phone.
With civic duty
messages falling flat,
Thank you for voting
Gratitude’s powerful impact on voter turnout
Why is this Important?
In most cases, direct mail for
GOTV is not effective.
However, “thank you for
voting” letters are the
exception and are an easy
tactic to use for your
campaign.
EquipGOP.com
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7. some researchers and campaigns turned to behavioral psychology for
insight. Professor Robert Cialdini ran numerous experiments testing
the impact of social proof in a variety of circumstances. Social proof is
the idea that individuals are more likely to act if they believe many
others are doing the same action as well. Social proof is why smart
bartenders seed their tip jar with their own cash at the start of a shift.
Customers are more likely to leave a tip when they know everyone
else is doing it.
Research published in 2011 by Fordham University’s Costas
Panagopoulos explored the impact of influence through gratitude on
GOTV. To test gratitude’s influence on GOTV, Panagopoulos sent
GOTV letters to voters in the week before three different elections in
2009 and 2010. The letters thanked the voter for voting in the
previous election and mentioned that he hoped to congratulate the
voter again after the upcoming election. The three elections ranged
from high turnout to low turnout.
After the elections he cross referenced the letter recipients with vote
history and found that the gratitude letter increased voter turnout by
10 percent over the control group, which received no letter.
Think about that. A 10 percent increase from a single, simple letter.
As Panagopoulos stated in the research, “of all three studies
unequivocally tell a consistent story: voting may be viewed as a
thankless job, but thanking voters evidently makes a surprisingly big
difference. Gratitude can be harnessed effectively to increase turnout.”
In a recent article in Campaigns & Elections, Democrat direct mail
consultant Hal Malchow confirms and expands upon Panagopoulos’
research with his own sample gratitude GOTV letter.
6
Thank You for Voting in 2012
Jane Doe
123 Any Street
Anytown, USA 00000
Dear Jane Doe:
Thank you for voting in 2012. I know voting takes time and trouble and the
fact that you made it to the polls last year shows that you care about our
country and are making your voice heard.
As you may know, voters will be going to the polls this Tuesday to choose a
new mayor. This election will be important for our city and thanks to good
citizens like you I am confident we can move our city forward.
If you need information on my candidacy, please visit my website at
listerformayor.com. Thank you for being a voter and after the election I hope
to see your name among those who are voting next Tuesday.
Sincerely,
Fred Lister
PS--Voting records do not show how you voted but they do show whether
or not you vote. So I hope that after the election, I will have a chance to
thank you again for doing your part.
EquipGOP.com

8. Malchow’s testing indicates simplicity is the best when sending these
letters. The best results came from printing the letters on one side of
70# white paper and then printing the voter’s name and address on
the other side. They were then folded in half, tabbed and mailed the
week before the election.
Voting Habit
Separate research shows that GOTV efforts have a spillover effect into
subsequent election. As Alan Gerber and Don Green state in Get Out
the Vote (pp. 140), “studies show that for every 100 voters mobilized in
a given election, an additional 33 will participate in the next election.”
One third of these voters establishes a habit of voting.
People who voted for the first time in 2008 for President Obama were
no longer new voters 2012. The Obama campaign just needed to
encourage them to do it again. After voting once the perceived
barriers to voting were lowered and voting seemed less difficult.
Since it is always easier to get someone to do something they have
already done the gratitude GOTV letter provides an easy way to
reinforce the habit of voting.
Going a Step Further
Habits can be fragile when they are new. Charles Duhigg’s The Power
of Habit (basic overview here), breaks down research into the loop of
every habit: a cue, a routine and a reward. For example, you get out of
bed in the morning (cue), add water and grinds to the coffee maker
(routine), and drink your coffee (reward).
Image Source: Charles Duhigg
A Republican town committee could use these same principles to
reinforce the voting habit. Establish a Cue (send a gratitude GOTV
letter the week before an election to every Republican who previously
voted), a Routine ( the GOP voter goes to the polls), and a Reward
( after the election send voters a follow up thank you note or letter).
This cycle continually reinforces the voting habit with Republicans in
the committee’s town. Over time, the GOTV turnout would
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9. compound, thereby increasing overall GOP voting. These effects
would have particular impact in low turnout off-year elections.
What to Do
Republican town committees should start using the gratitude GOTV
letter (see right; download template here) before each election. This
will improve Republican turnout in both the short and long run.
At the very least, town committees should send follow up thank you
letters to every GOP voter who voted for the first time. You want to do
everything possible to establish the pattern of voting among these
new voters.
As a candidate, you should make sure your committee commits to
sending these letters. That might entail raising the funds for the
project, but the increased voter turnout for your campaign, makes the
extra effort worth it.
[Insert Town] Republican Committee
[insert committee address]
Thank You for Voting in [insert election year]
[Insert Date]
[Voter First Name] [Last Name]
[Street address]
[Town], [State] [Zip]
Dear [Insert Name]:
Thank you for voting in [insert year]. We know voting takes time and trouble and the
fact that you made it to the polls last year shows that you care about our country
and are making your Republican voice heard.
As you may know, voters will be going to the polls this Tuesday to [Insert election
purpose]. This election will be important for [insert reason] and thanks to good
Republicans like you we’re confident we can move our town forward.
If you need information on the candidates, please visit our website at [Insert
Website]. Thank you for being a voter and after the election we hope to see your
name among those who are voting next Tuesday.
Sincerely,
[Insert GOP Committee Name]
P.S. - Voting records do not show how you voted but they do show whether or not
you vote. So we hope that after the election, we will have a chance to thank you
again for doing your part.
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10. When it comes to motivating people to vote, the
scripts Republican political campaigns have used
for years aren’t very original. “Do you plan to vote
tomorrow?…It’s an important election…It’s going to
be close…It’s your civic duty”.
While early research from the 1980’s found this
civic duty messaging effective, more recently the
measurable effects of these scripts has waned. A
group of researchers wondered if self-identity
triggers would increase voter turnout. They
hypothesized that people who viewed themselves
as "being the kind of person who votes" would be
more likely to actually vote on Election Day.
To test this the research team modified scripts for
surveys the night before and the morning of three
different 2008 and 2009 elections, including the
2009 New Jersey gubernatorial, and tracked
whether respondents went on to vote based on
state vote-history
records. During the
New Jersey race,
they tested a random
sample of registered
voters that included
all party, age, and
gender
Voting and self-identity
Small changes in GOTV scripts have a significant impact on voter turnout
Why is this Important?
GOTV for your campaign
takes time and effort. Make
sure your volunteers use the
most effective and persuasive
scripts possible.
“...a small change in wording that
framed voting as an expression of
self rather than as simply a behavior
increased voter turnout...by 10.9
percentage points.”
EquipGOP.com
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11. Union Democrat phone bank in 2008
demographics. To one group they asked a series of questions including,
"How important is it to you to vote in tomorrow's/today's election?" to
the other group, similar questions were asked like, "How important is
it to you to be a voter in the tomorrow's/today's election?" The only
difference in the question was the use of the verb "vote" or the noun
"voter".
It turns out words matter…
"The critical finding is that a small change in wording that framed voting
as an expression of self rather than as simply a behavior increased voter
turnout–in this experiment by 10.9 percentage points." Just the short
interaction of answering a survey helped individuals perceive
themselves as "voters" and significantly increased their motivation to
vote. This effect was not isolated and seen across all respondent
demographics. These findings were well publicized among the Left and
adopted in GOTV scripts by most major Democratic campaigns by the
2010 election.
Self-identity strategies motivate more than just voting–they extend
into other socially desirable behaviors. Additional research found that
"children thought that a child described as 'a carrot eater' like carrots more
than a child who 'eats carrots whenever she can'." The effects do not
apply, however, for socially undesirable behaviors like smoking.
Referring to someone as a "smoker" does not increase tobacco use.
Individuals must feel positive about the behavior for self-identity
strategies to be successful.
What to Do?
You might have a great GOTV live-call phone operation but if you are
not using the most persuasive and scientifically-optimized scripts you
will be missing out. In each GOTV interaction, reinforce the positive
self-identity. Don’t just make sure someone votes, make sure she sees
herself as a voter.
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12. Another turnout tactic widely used by Democrats
is helping people "make a plan to vote". David
Nickerson and Todd Rogers first studied this
strategy in 2008 during the peak of the Clinton-
Obama Democratic presidential primary,
specifically the Pennsylvania campaign.
Rogers and Nickerson thought they could apply
implementation intentions to voting to increase
turnout. Behavioral scientists explain
implementation intention as an individual's desire
to accomplish a goal by linking it with another
pre-existing action. For example, if you want to
start flossing everyday, link it to something you
are already doing on a daily basis. You could say,
"When I turn on the shower and wait for the water
to get warm, I'll floss my teeth". Essentially you are
saying "if situation Y, then behavior X". This
intention or plan creation dramatically increases
the likelihood of succeeding at the stated goal.
Rogers’ and Nickerson’s experiment used a pool of
287,228 low-propensity Pennsylvania Democratic
primary voters. The large sample allowed them to
test three different types of scripts while
maintaining a large control group. The first script
simply reminded registered voters of the
upcoming election. The second group of scripts
reminded voters of
the election and also
asked if they
intended to vote.
The last group of
scripts used an
additional three
questions: "what
Making a plan to vote
Linking existing routines with voting increases turnout
Why is this Important?
What turns out one type of
voter is not what turns out
another. Tailor your tactics to
the voter for greatest effect.
EquipGOP.com
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13. time would they vote, where they would be coming from, and what
would they be doing beforehand"? These follow-up questions were
designed to make the voter unconsciously create a mental plan, or
implementation intention, for voting on Election Day.
After the primary the survey data was matched back to individuals’
vote history. Overall the researchers found positive results, with the
group receiving the three "plan" questions voting at a 4.1 percent
higher rate. But the findings also curiously revealed that there was
hardly any measurable turnout effect with the plan script in multi-
voter households. The gains in turnout had come entirely from single-
voter households.
Looking just at single-voter households, the researchers found the
plan script had boosted turnout 9.1 percent.
Why does the number of voters in a household matter? Most multi-
voter households tend to be married or couples. Living together with
another adult often results in daily basic logistical conversations. Are
you going to be home for dinner? Can
you stop by the grocery store after you
pick up the kids from daycare? These
small conversations help days run
smoothly and likely lead to multi-voter
households proactively making plans to
vote.
Single-voter households don't have to worry about anyone else’s
logistics. Since they are responsible only for themselves it's easy to
forget to perform a short errand like voting.
When receiving the GOTV call, single voters might have answered the
three questions similar to this:
• Q1. What time will you vote?
• A1. "During my lunch break"
• Q2. Where will you be coming from?
• A2. "From work"
• Q3. What will you be doing beforehand?
• A3. "Well, I will probably grab lunch at Wendy's, so I
would be eating lunch at Wendy's"
The three questions drill down to the actual action the individual will
be performing, helping to link the behavior (“doing
beforehand") with the next act of voting. After
talking to the caller the individual now has a concrete
plan in mind of when to vote, increasing the
likelihood of remembering to vote.
The tactic of making a plan to vote was broadly
12
Looking just at single voter
households, the researchers found the
plan script had boosted turnout 9.1
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14. adopted by the Left during the 2010 and 2012 elections. In the New
Jersey special election for U.S. Senate in October 2013, the Corey
Booker campaign had President Obama record a YouTube video where
he discussed both creating a plan to vote and pledging to vote (see page
15). The campaign also used an online tool that helped individuals
plan the time they intended to vote.
CoreyBooker.com’s pledge to vote page
The Democrats may have more to gain from these voting plans for
single-voter households considering the edge they have among
younger voters, single women, etc. However, Republicans still have
significant numbers of single-voter households to tap into where this
GOTV tactic can prove highly effective.
What to Do?
Divide your GOTV voter contact universe into single-voter
households and multi-voter households. Contact the single-voter
households with a script that incorporates making a plan to vote (see
page 26). Multi-voter households should get the script optimized for
their turnout (see page 26).
Explain to your volunteers why you are using the two scripts and the
importance of making a plan to vote for single voters. The better your
volunteers understand your thought behind the scripts, the better
they will be at executing them.
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15. The 2013 Virginia governor's race showcased a
successful Democrat voter-turnout tactic that the
right has been slow to adopt–vote pledges.
In a post-campaign analysis, Politico explained
that canvassers for Democrat Terry McAuliffe's
campaign began knocking on doors in early 2013.
The McAuliffe supporters identified during these
early efforts were asked to fill out a voter pledge
card, which is essentially a “promise" to vote in
November. At doors, rallies and special events,
the campaign collected these pledge cards from
supporters and kept them until just before
Election Day. At that point, the cards were mailed
back to the individuals who pledged to vote. The
McAuliffe campaign collected and returned more
than 80,000 of their supporters’ pledge cards in a
race decided by only 55,000 votes.
The Left first started using this tactic in 1996 with
the Rock the Vote campaign. For that election
voters were asked to both sign a pledge they
would vote and to fill out their "I will vote because
" response.
Researchers found
that those who filled
out both the pledge
and recorded why
they were voting
were significantly
more likely to vote in
Voting pledges
Obtaining a promise to vote is a must
Why is this Important?
An individual’s participation in
one small action of support
causes larger actions of
support in the future.
EquipGOP.com
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16. the 1996 presidential election.
The Left has broadly used voting
pledges ever since, but especially in
2012 through both pledge cards and
email. In many target states,
Obama supporters received
campaign emails asking them to
pledge to vote and to give a reason
for voting. The campaign sent back emails to these supporters prior to
the election reminding them of the reason they gave when they made
their pledge to vote.
Democrat Corey Booker used this pledge tactic in New Jersey for his
U.S. Senate special-election campaign in October. This tactic was so
important that President Obama even recorded a YouTube video
asking voters to pledge to vote for Booker. You can still see this video
on Booker's campaign website.
Good campaign tactics like this
don’t have borders. In Canada,
Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi
added a special Pledge to Vote
section to his website during his
successful reelection campaign.
Nenshi even added a pledge
counter to the web page
showing that more than 12,000
Calgarians pledged to vote.
Unfortunately, few Republicans
have adopted voter pledges.
Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and the Wisconsin Republican
Party are an exception–they embrace the tactic with a website,
pledgeyourvotenow.com.
Why has this tactic become so ubiquitous among the Left?
Because it works.
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17. Why does the pledge to vote work?
Individuals respond to foot-in-the-door persuasion techniques.
Basically an individual is first asked to perform a simple, relatively
painless task, like sign a petition or complete a voter pledge card. Once
they make this small commitment to a cause they are much more
likely to follow through on a larger request. Researchers Jonathan
Freedman and Scott Fraser confirmed this in a well-known study
testing the foot-in-the-door technique. The researchers divided a
population of suburbanites into two groups. They asked the first group
if they could put up a large "Drive Carefully" sign in their yard. Not
surprisingly, there were very few takers. The second group of
residents was first asked to sign a petition promoting driving safety.
When the researchers followed up two weeks later with the "Drive
Carefully" sign request, more than half of the petition signers agreed to
the lawn sign.
By first agreeing to the small request of signing a petition these
individuals began to think of themselves as people who support
careful driving and thus more likely to agree to actions that support
that identity.
Vote pledge cards work the same way. Seeing your pledge to vote in
your own handwriting has a profound impact. It not only reinforces a
positive view of oneself as a good citizen who plans to vote, it also
serves as a reminder of a commitment. Failing to vote after taking a
pledge now means you're ruining the image you have of yourself as
someone who votes.
What to do?
Local Republican campaigns should adopt voter pledge cards as a
standard practice. Candidates and volunteers should have every
campaign supporter they identify complete one of these pledge cards
during door-to-door—especially those who vote in presidential
elections but not in off-year elections.
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Sample Text for Voter Pledge Cards
"Yes, I support [Insert Candidate name]. I pledge to vote on
Tuesday, November 4th."
"I will vote because ____________________"
Name:
Address:
City: State: Zip:
Phone:
Volunteer for the campaign? [ Yes ] [ No ]
Receive text message reminder to vote on Election Day? [ Yes ] [ No ]
EquipGOP.com

18. Add a Pledge to Vote section to your campaign website. Ask people to
provide their name, email address, zip code and an "I will vote because
" response. Email these same voters their pledges the week
before the election with directions to their polling place.
Use the foot-in-the-door technique for other areas of your campaign.
Start supporters off with small requests like a $5 donation or to
volunteer for an hour. This initially campaign engagement will build
more active supporters as Election Day approaches.
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19. Over the last ten years there's been many GOTV
studies to understand what works and what doesn't
work. In this section we highlight a few tactics that
research shows have little if any effect on voter
turnout.
The overarching theme in what doesn't work for
GOTV usually comes down to this: cheap and easy
tactics have the lowest effect. These items seem
appealing because you can do most of them quickly
and get the feeling of accomplishment, but you are
really just confusing motion for productivity. In
reality you are wasting your time and money.
As startup venture capitalist Paul Graham said, “You
make what you measure. Merely measuring something
has an uncanny tendency to improve it...Corollary: be
careful what you measure.” The same applies for
GOTV. Measure what's important. Number of calls
made is interesting for finding your contact
percentage but ultimately is unimportant. The
number of voters your volunteers talk to is
important. Measure the number of voter contacts,
not the number of calls or doors hit. Track those
other numbers but measure your success on the
important number–how many actual voters did you
talk to about going
to the polls and
voting. By the end
of Election Day
that's what matters.
What doesn't work
for GOTV
EquipGOP.com
WHAT DOESN’T WORK
Literature Drops
Generic GOTV
Mail
Robocalls
Bad Live Phone
Calls
GOTV Emails
18

20. Robocalls
On every campaign you will have someone tell you to do GOTV
robocalls. They'll say you must get a local celebrity or politician to
record the call. The calls are very cheap, only two to five cents a piece.
You could call all the Republicans in your district for a few hundred
dollars. All the while you're thinking, "I hate getting robocalls at my
house."
The reason those robocalls are cheap is because they don't work for
GOTV. They're basically phone spam. You are unsolicitedly calling
someone with a recorded message hoping they will pick up the phone
and think, "I don't really know this guy, but I want to listen to
something that is prerecorded and mass broadcasted".
There are certain circumstances in which robocalls make sense but
GOTV is not one of them. Researchers Don Green and Alan Gerber
estimate that GOTV auto calls affect approximately 1 out of every
1000 people contacted (pp. 92). Other research has shown no effect at
all on turnout from robocalls.
You might be thinking, "This might be true if they heard from me but
I have (insert well respected Republican name) who can record the call
for me. Everyone knows him." This argument seems logical but is not
backed up by the research. A study done of auto calls by Texas
Governor Rick Perry endorsing a candidate for Texas Supreme Court
in a primary found no effect in voter turnout over the control group
(pp. 83).
Robocalls simply are not effective for GOTV. If you use them you are
wasting your money and annoying your voters.
Generic GOTV Mail
Mail can have a positive effect on voter turnout but generic GOTV
mail has little if any effect (pp. 69). Mail from your campaign that
simply states, "Vote for John Smith, a Strong leader for our
Community" or that uses a civic duty message no longer moves people
to the polls.
A common technique on campaigns is sending a GOTV postcard to
Republicans as the last mailer. It seems to make sense to remind your
partisan base about the election. Unfortunately, numerous studies
show that it doesn’t work. In fact, Gerber and Green state it has "no
detectable effect" on turnout. Save your money and put it towards the
GOTV mail that works.
GOTV Emails
Since before Howard Dean was screaming in Iowa, we've heard how
important email is to campaigns. This is true and it's important to
have an email strategy for your campaign. However, as a GOTV tool,
email has little effect on turnout. This could be because the people on
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21. your email list are supporters and already likely to vote for you. You
should build an email list as part of your overall campaign but don't go
rent a list and blast out GOTV emails and expect anything in return.
Bad Live Phone Calls
Live phone calls are always better than robocalls. But if you hire a
phone bank to make GOTV calls for your campaign you need to make
sure you know what you are paying for. You don't want to use the
cheapest phone bank because they will likely blast through your calls
as quick as possible. Voters can tell the callers are rushed and don't
have significant vested interest in the campaign except to complete
the call. This puts no added pressure on the voter to go to the polls.
Green and Gerber estimate that these calls return 1 extra voter per
280 voters the call center speaks with.
You are better off hiring a phone bank and using one of the sample
scripts provided. Stress that you are willing to pay extra so the callers
can take more time and put feeling behind the calls. With well-
trained callers it's estimated their impact can be as high as 1 extra
voter per 35 contacts (pp. 139).
Literature Drops
Literature drops are different from door-to-door. With a literature
drop, no attempt is made to contact the voters in the household. A
piece of literature or door hanger is left on the door and the goal is to
hit as many doors as possible. But this doesn’t improve turnout. You
are far better off having your volunteers knocking on 50 doors and
having one-on-one voter contact rather than dropping off literature at
500 doors with no contact.
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22. One thing that's easy to forget in all the talk about
voter turnout is why people are going to the polls to
vote in the first place. In most cases an individual
vote doesn't swing an election. Some studies have
even said you have a better chance of dying in a fatal
accident on your way to the polls then being a
deciding vote. While voting is relatively easy, it is
also an action that someone might feel doesn't
matter.
A successful GOTV effort increases the perceived
value of each individual’s vote. Voting is seen as a
positive activity and many individuals know they
should do it. However, like exercise or eating right,
just because we know we need to do something
doesn't mean we do it. Voters needs to have a series
of additional nudges to get them to the polls. The
more connected to other voters and campaign
supporters the more likely a voter is to go to the
polls. All of the tactics described in this section are
high contact and very personal. Voters view this as
extra effort from the candidate and the campaign.
They will pay closer attention to the side showing
the most interest in them than to less personalized
actions (i.e. robocalls).
Voters want to
feel good about
their decision to
vote and want to
know that others
in their area are
doing the same.
That's why we
What works for
GOTV
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WHAT WORKS
Door-to-Door
Direct Mail
Thanking Voters
Live Volunteer
Phone Calls
Voter Pledge
Cards
Text Messages
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23. discuss in the scripts section the value of stressing that turnout will be
high and the race will be very close.
Door-to-Door
Also called canvassing, door-to-door can have a very strong effect on
voter turnout. This is not literature dropping when volunteers simply
leave flyers at a door. It is targeted knocks on doors where the
volunteer tries to talk to the potential voter, if no one is home they
will still leave literature. (This is different than candidate door-to-door
which is more focused on voter persuasion).
Several studies have shown it's most effective in the final week of the
campaign. Gerber and Green created an estimate from several door-to-
door GOTV studies that for every 14 voters that were talked to, 1 extra
person came out to vote (pp. 139). This is the highest turnout tool of
any GOTV tactic. If you estimate a 25 percent at-home rate for door-
to-door you will need to hit 56 doors for every new person you
turnout. While this is highly effective it is also very time consuming.
An average volunteer in a normal neighborhood could probably hit
20-25 doors an hour.
For a local campaign, you could look for specific neighborhoods where
you have high concentrations of low-propensity voters and target
those neighborhoods for door-to-door. If voters are widely dispersed
you will want to contact them by phone.
Direct Mail Thanking Voters
Direct mail is a funny business. In the early 2000s many thought mail
would become obsolete because of the internet. However, with the
fragmentation of mass media, mail has persisted because it's one of
the few advertising mediums where you can be sure to still reach
voters.
Like phone calls, the quality of your mail matters. Generic mail doesn't
work, but two specific types of mail can work for your campaign.
Voting is a thankless task little credit to gain. As detailed on (pages
5-8), sending a voter a simple letter thanking them for voting and
letting them know you hope to thank them again after the election
increases turnout. Certain studies have shown it increases turnout 10
percent in some elections. Additionally, mailing of signed voter
pledge cards has also been shown to increase turnout.
Live Volunteer Phone Calls
As detailed earlier, the greater the perceived difficulty or cost of a
voter interaction the more voters tend to pay attention and value
those interactions. The same is true with live volunteer phone banks.
This is one of the most efficient GOTV activities. Live calls have been
estimated to generate 1 vote per 38 contacts (pp. 139). It makes sense.
If you get a call from a volunteer in your town, you'll at least listen for
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24. a minute. You don't want to hang up because you're not sure if you
know the person and you don't want to offend them. Friendly
volunteers with proven scripts connect with voters and motivate
them to go to the polls at higher rates.
You can increase the efficiency of your volunteers by using a virtual
phone bank system that auto dials the calls for them and has
prerecorded answering machine messages. This way volunteers are
spending the maximum amount of time talking to voters directly and
not leaving answering machine messages over and over. The key is to
streamline the call process for everything except talking to live voters.
When talking to a voter, have your volunteers take their time and
connect on personal level. The more personal the connection the
more likely they will be to vote.
Remember, like all GOTV activities this isn't a magic bullet. On
average, it still takes talking to 38 voters before getting 1 additional
vote. A dozen callers working the two nights before and all day on
Election Day could alone turnout an additional 100 to 200 votes. In
small races that could be your margin of victory.
Voter Pledge Cards
Voter pledge cards are used broadly on the Left but not so much on
our side (see pages 14-17 for full details). The basic idea behind voter
pledge cards is to allow supporters to do one small act in support of
your campaign...signing the pledge. Then the pledge cards are mailed
back to supporters the week before the Election. Voters see their
handwriting and remember their initial small commitment and are
now more likely to fulfill the larger act of voting.
Voter pledges not only reinforce a positive view of oneself as a good
citizen who plans to vote, they also serve as a reminder of a
commitment. Failing to vote after taking a pledge now means ruining
the voter's self image as someone who votes.
Text Messages
In research from the mid-2000's, text message reminders to vote were
shown to be somewhat effective in voter turnout, especially among
the younger demographic. The effect has declined with the ubiquity
of text messages but is still a relatively easy way to remind voters.
Adding a "Send me a reminder text message to vote" box on a voter
pledge card is a easy way to nudge voters to the polls who've already
pledged to vote for you.
There are many very inexpensive text message services available. Use
a volunteer to keep an up-to-date spreadsheet of all the cell phone
numbers you have to remind and then simply upload the list. Most
text message services will allow you to schedule the text so it can be
prepared well before Election Day.
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25. In 2012, the Democrats outplayed Republicans
when it came to voter turnout. Scripts devised by
the Democrat Analyst Institute hit on all the latest
GOTV research and persuasion techniques:
• Highlight the localness of the call
• Thank them for voting in previous elections
• Use the word “voter” not the verb “voting”
• Voter commitment
• Making a plan to vote
Democrats also explained to their volunteers why
they were using this specific script and why each
element worked so well. Their volunteers bought
into the scripts and importance of making a
connection with every potential voter they spoke
with.
Meanwhile, most Republican campaigns, including
Mitt Romney’s 2012 presidential campaign, did not
utilize this research and instead used the same type
of scripts that were used a decades ago.
In 2014 we can build off the work and innovation
of Democrats and
use it against
them.
Sample Scripts
OVERVIEW
• Use the Democrats’
proven scripts against
them
Proven scripts to use for your GOTV effort
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Democrat Script from 2012 Live volunteer calls are among the most effective GOTV tactics.
Friendly tones and non-rushed scripts reinforce to voters that they
are speaking with an individual from their community they can
relate to (see page 22).
Voting is a thankless job, which is why showing gratitude for past
voting increases future turnout. Stating that vote history is a public
record gently signals that others know whether or not someone
votes (see pages 5-8).
Being a “voter” reinforces a positive self-identity trigger and by
thinking of themselves as “voters” individuals are more likely to
vote (see pages 9-10).
Pledging or committing to vote verbally is a small, relatively easy
act. However, this small act is a foot-in-the-door that leads to the
larger, more difficult act of voting (see pages 13-17).
Most individuals will make a greater effort to vote if they believe
everyone else is voting. Stressing high turnout or “record
turnout” reinforces this needed social proof (see page 6).
Use gratitude again in the closing and reinforce a positive self-
identity of being a “voter”. Finally, use a gentle signal that voter
records are public and others will know if they don’t vote (see pages
5-8).
Making a plan to vote by linking existing routines with voting
increases turnout in single-voter households but not multi-voter
households (see pages 11-13).

27. Republican Scripts for 2014
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