Election Day Activities
Maybe you’ve been communicating about an upcoming election for weeks (or months!)-but maybe now. Either way, here are some activities you can do ON Election Day to make sure people in your network exercise their right and responsibility to vote:
Leverage Communication Vehicles
Use your existing email, mail, and newsletter distribution lists to share a final reminder about Election Day with your members, volunteers, families, and staff and make a push for folks to get out and vote.
Your message can be as simple as:
- Remember, today is Election Day! Do not forget to vote!
- Today is Election Day! If you have questions about your polling place or the hours for voting, call 1-866-Our-Vote (1-866-687-8682) or visit www.vote411.org for information.
- Your vote counts. Your vote matters. Support early childhood education, and vote today!
Encourage Staff to Help Out on Election Day
Nonprofits may:
- Allow staff time off to vote.
- Allow staff t spend part or all of Election Day doing nonpartisan get-out-the-vote activities.
- Encourage staff and volunteers to sign up as poll workers or translators.
Provide Rides to the Polls
Helping people get to the polls is a great way to ensure that they vote. You can this on your own or in conjunction with others. Here are some things to do to create a successful strategy:
- Before Election Day, tell people that you will be offering rides to the polls on Election Day, and let them know that sign-ups are required. (Note that there will probably still be last minute requests and changes, especially if the weather conditions are poor.)
- Determine wether your organization will lead the effort or work with others.
- Establish how many cars, vans, and people will be involved/available.
- Train volunteers to ensure they remain nonpartisan during their interaction with the voters they transport (such as not asking them whom they are going to vote for).
- Divide Election Day into two-hour blocks of time (or more, depending on capacity).
- Have one person act as “dispatcher” to organize drivers and the requests for transportation that come in from voters.
These tools are drawn from a larger Get Out The Vote guide prepared for NAEYC by Advocacy & Communications Solutions, LLC. You can search the larger guide here.
