Note: Unless otherwise noted, “election day” means ANY date with an election. That includes off-cycle local elections and primaries. Voting on these days is just as important as voting in November!
Make a list of people you want to do voter outreach to so you don’t forget anybody when election day rolls around. (For information about how to pick you team, check out our "Choosing Your Team" page.)
Don’t let off-cycle local elections or primary dates sneak up on you! Send calendar invites to your team so they have this information as well.
Be prepared with registration links or forms just in case!
Every year we hear stories from across the country about how people weren’t excited about their party’s candidates. The thing is, YOU get to pick the candidates! If you get involved in this process early, you can support lesser-known candidates that you’d actually want to see in office.
This is especially important for primary elections, runoffs, and off-cycle local races, which often fall at unexpected times of year.
Sure, we want to overturn those unfair restrictions, but first we want to make sure that they don’t stop voters in the short term. Offer to help your team get whatever ID is required well before the election.
It’s easy to find out about candidates with big money and lots of press. It’s often harder to find out who else is running. Make sure you know who the main players are and what they stand for.
People are more likely to follow the news if they have a sense of which names and pieces of information they're looking for. Drop some of this information into conversation with your team. Give them a few brief facts about the candidates and the main issues they'll be voting on.
Remembering to fill out forms is tough. It's boring, It's annoying. That's where you come in! Make sure your friends know where to go to order their ballot and how to fill it in and send it back. We have links to the absentee applications in all 50 states in our state voting guides.
Our state voting guides have links to each state’s voter registration and polling location lookup site.
If it’s a big election with lots of offices up for reelection, you might want to make a cheat sheet. Some of your friends will want voter information to make their own decisions, but others may trust that you share their values and simply want to know who you, as an informed voter, are voting for. Give people whatever info is most likely to make them show up at the polls.
Offer to help them research any races they aren’t sure about so they can get their ballots in quickly.
Ask your friends what time of day they plan to vote on Election Day and how they’ll get to the polls. It may seem silly but having the logistics worked out is proven to increase a person's chance of voting!
Encourage your team to share posts about election day as well. There is no such thing as too many reminders to vote.
Voting is not school – you’re allowed to phone a friend at any point in the process!
This means ensuring people have transportation, know their rights at the office (everybody is entitled to two hours off to vote if the polls for at least two hours outside of their work day), and have their childcare needs taken care of. If you are in a position to, advocate for the people at your office who are too nervous to approach the boss about getting time off to vote.
Make sure everybody on your team personally confirms that they voted, either via an “I Voted” selfie on social, a text, or an email.
If you can, watch the results with friends and discuss how you feel about the results! Ask them what you could all do better next time to get even more people to the polls.
Post your success on social media to let people know what you did to get people to the polls! Include specifics so people can incorporate them into their own outreach work next time!
Excited to be a part of making change? Here are some other things to do even when it’s not election time:
Being up on current events won’t take up much of your time, plus a lot of people you think are boring are actually making really hilarious current events jokes you just don’t get. That’s sad for you.
Do the research so other people don't have to, and help your friends identify causes they care about. Being invested in something - literally anything - makes people infinitely more likely to vote.
Hold your representatives accountable and help your team do the same! You and everybody you know can call, email, or visit them at any time regarding any issue.