My most recent results are published through the Analyst Institute.

We collect two dozen voter tripling pledges today in our canvass on behalf of Sam Dunn, candidate for the at-large city council position in Mansfield and another 15 at a local event. Vote tripling works.

Tina Rosenburg in her article in The New York Times, Hi, There. Want to Triple Voter Turnout? touts our success, increasing turnout by nearly 8% amongst Oberlin College students in the Ohio primary. @tirosenburg @nytimes

While Democrats largely avoided canvassing in 2020 , Republicans revved up their canvassing. For example, in Pennsylvania’s eight congressional district, the Republican candidate spoke proudly of their canvassing while the Democrat spoke equally proudly of not canvassing. The Republican candidate outperformed the polling average by 6.6%. The Democratic candidate won by just 3.6% while (Fivethirtyeight.com’s polling average showed the Democratic candidate winning by 10.2%)

We will never know how important the fact that Republicans canvassed while Democrats did not was. However, numerous studies have shown that canvassing increases voter turnout. Choosing not to canvass may well have been a costly decision.

Canvassing can be done safely and effectively during Covid-19. I recently canvassed for three days and collected 38 vote triplers (commitments to remind three friends to vote) complete with phone numbers.

In normal times, I prefer to have the voter fill out the vote tripler form (listing their phone number and the names of the three people they plan to remind) themselves, however I found that voters were just as willing to tell me verbally who they would vote for and to give me their phone number.

And so many people were home. I spoke to someone at nearly half of the doors that I knocked on. On a Monday no less. Indeed I collected 19 vote triplers with phone numbers that Monday. A personal record.

Canvassing without masks, as Republicans do, is irresponsible. We can be just as effective while being careful not to spread Covid-19.

Vote tripling involves two steps:

1. Collect vote triplers: Ask supporters for the names of three friends who they are willing to talk to about voting Democratic.
2. Send text reminders to these supporters asking them to remind their friends.

Here are some ways that I have collected vote triplers:

• Voter registration drives. Whenever I ask people to register to vote, I also carry vote triplers. I offer vote triplers to anyone who shows any enthusiasm for Democrats. Both those who are already registered and those who fill out voter registration forms will vote triple. 
• Door-to-door. If you are collecting commit-to-votes, consider switching to vote triplers. If you aren’t collecting commit-to-votes, vote triplers are even easier for volunteers to collect. 
• Yard sign pickup. Anyone who picks up a yard sign should be given the opportunity to list three friends who they will encourage to vote.
• Absentee ballot chase. When a supporter tells you that they have already sent their absentee ballot in, why would you not give them the opportunity to triple their vote? 
• At the polls – Thank you for voting Democratic, would you like to triple your impact today? 

These are just the techniques that I used successfully in campaigns. See VoteTripling.org for additional ideas.

Speaking to Democrats after they have just voted and asking them to encourage three friends to vote, i.e. polling place vote tripling is fun and effective. It is fun because people who have just voted are in a great mood and eager to find ways to increase their impact. I experience this myself as I vote tripled in Lorain County during the March primary. The result was stunning a 5 to 10% increase in voter participation as measured by a randomized controlled trial published by the Analyst Institute. “List-based relational organizing and polling place vote tripling in the 2020 Ohio Primary” [Ken Stanley, Oliver McCllelan, Gabriel Zucker], available at the Analyst Institute.

As the “organizer from Ohio” mentioned in Turnout Nation: A Pilot Experiment Evaluating a Get-Out-The-Vote “Supertreatment” [McClellan and Green], I am eager to talk to you about structured relational organizing campaigns. With that type of campaign, we generated “the largest intent-to-treat effect documented by an experimental GOTV study over the past two decades” according to Don Green, author of “Get Out The Vote” 

For this effort, I drew on my experience from two decades of relational organizing. If you are ready to unleash the power of relational organizing to win this November: contact me here or e-mail me at kensstanley@gmail.com

This weekend I canvassed for Qasim Rashid and Jess Foster. In this canvass we asked voters not just to commit to voting (via a Commit-To-Vote card) but to commit to asking three friends to vote. This idea, Vote Tripling, was developed by Robert Reynolds and was written up by Tina Rosenberg in the New York Times this March.

Asking people to reach out to three friends is more fun and more rewarding than asking people to fill out a Commit-To-Vote form. I feared that because this is a bigger ask that I would get more resistance. Not so. Indeed I found that 75-80% of supporters were willing to give me the first names of three people whom they were willing to talk to about voting for Qasim and Jess. Furthermore, all 17 voters who agreed to reach out to friends also agreed to give me their cell phone number. When collecting Commit-To-Vote forms I find that about 20% refuse to give me a cell phone number.

In short, not only does Vote Tripling work, it is also more fun than collecting Commit-To-Vote forms. I am not ready to say that we should abandon Commit-To-Vote forms in favor of Vote Tripling. In a months long campaign (like 2020) I could see a role for both. Perhaps using the Commit-To-Vote form over the summer and switching to Vote Tripling in the fall.

To learn more about vote tripling, visit www.VoteTripling.org

Role plays are the key to a successful canvass as they build confidence. Every canvassing guide will tell you to have volunteers practice their pitch in a role play before they leave. Volunteers are uniformly glad that they have practiced their lines before their first door knock. Yet role plays rarely happen.

These six techniques will ensure that every volunteer practices their lines at least once before they go out.

1) Expect volunteers to practice their lines

Never ask anyone if they want to practice their lines. They will decline. Make it clear that the role play is a part of the program. “Now all you need to do before you knock on doors is to practice your pitch a couple times. Sarah are you ready to try? Craig would you be the voter for Sarah?”

2) Role play cards

  Print a stack of role play cards (I print ten to a sheet on colored card stock). The front can say: “Your role” and the back tells them that they are a strong Dem and agree to fill out the Commit-To-Vote card. I put the same role on the back of all my role play cards, but if you feel creative, change the wording a bit. All role plays should specify that they are to fill out the Commit-To-Vote card.

  The role play cards serve several purposes. They make it more fun for both because it feels more like a game. It keeps the person acting as the voter positive. If you don’t specify that they are to be positive, they will not be. It makes it clear that you expect the role play to happen.

  It won’t take long for the canvassers to figure out that the roles are all the same. That does not diminish their effectiveness. Just explain why they are all the same. People will still pull a role play card and follow its instructions even if everyone in the room knows that all the roles are identical.

3) Don’t let them leave until they are ready to ask voters for a Commit-To-Vote.  

 Try: “I need to be sure that you are ready to ask people to fill out a commit-to-vote card before you leave.”

4) Ask reluctant volunteers if being effective is important to them.

 “I find that practicing my lines even just once before I go out, makes me more effective. Would you like to be more effective?”  Or if that feels too passive aggressive, try: “Would you do this for me? It will make you more effective.”

5) Have a respected individual lined up to play along

  No one wants to go first. So while you are recruiting to your first Commit-To-Vote canvass ask someone you trust to help you get the role play started. If the candidate is there, she is a natural choice (have her pull a role play card and be the voter). It can be a member of the candidate’s family or a leader in the local resistance movement, an active volunteer or any volunteer. Explain the importance of the role play and ask if you can count on them to participate and be positive.

6) When you have just one volunteer, ask anyone present to be the voter

Sometimes a volunteer shows up after the rest of the volunteers have headed out for the canvass.  Or a volunteer stops by wanting to canvass at a time when you don’t don’t have a canvass launch, As they sign in and get their packet, ask anyone in the room if they would be willing to be the voter for you. This could be a phone banker or any other volunteer. If no volunteers are around, ask a staff person. If you are in a coffee shop, pick a random patron, explain what you are doing and ask them to be the voter. You might end up with a volunteer lead.

By involving someone else, you make it clear that the role play is necessary. Have the “voter” pull a role play card and then ask the canvasser to go ahead with their pitch.

After the role play – be positive

 The goal of the role play is to improve their confidence. Praise anything that you can find to praise. Did they ask for the voter by name? Praise that. Did the voter fill out the Commit-To-Vote form? Praise that. A phone number? A signature? More opportunities for praise.

 If they did not ask the voter to fill out a Commit-To-Vote card, you have to make a quick judgement call. If they aren’t willing to ask voters to fill out a Commit-To-Vote card, cut your losses, avoid pairing them with a volunteer who is still new to collecting  Commit-To-Vote cards. If they are willing to ask but simply forgot, tell them that their pitch was fine. “… and can you do this one more time, asking for the Commit-To-Vote this time?”

 As you send them out, tell them that you are confident that they will ask for Commit-To-Vote cards and that you look forward to seeing the ones that they bring back.

See my blog post entitled: Winning your campaign’s first Commit-To-Vote canvass for more suggestions on how to make your first canvass a success.  

My tortured history with the role play

It took me a long time to figure out how to make role plays happen. After failing at several launches during the Parnell special election (SC-5 June 2017), my wife told me that she expected me to have volunteers role play the next day. That worked that day, but the next I slid back into asking volunteers if they wanted to do a role play. My big break came when I started making role play cards. My first cards had a different role on each. It was quickly apparent that positive roles were far more effective at building confidence.

   Voter registration is critical to winning elections, especially in years when we choose a president. Michael McDonald, an elections expert at the University of Florida, predicts record turnout in 2020. Yet, people can’t vote if they aren’t registered.

Partisan registration drives are more effective  

 Many organizations can only participate in non-partisan voter registration drives and I certainly appreciate those efforts to enfranchise people.

 If your goal is to elect Democrats, a partisan voter registration drive is more effective. Though I have no objection to Republicans registering and voting, Republicans will never go out of their way to help Democrats register and vote, hence I feel no obligation to go out of my way to register Republicans. Partisan voter registration drives also allow you to coordinate with the Democratic party and candidates to make sure that these new voters are included in their Get Out The Vote drive. Separate non-partisan Get Out The Vote drives, though well meaning, often end up irritating voters because of the duplication with the Democratic party GOTV efforts.

 This article focuses on partisan voter registration drives because they are more effective at helping Democrats be the person that they want to be – i.e. vote.  

Ironing boards are better than tables

  Active tabling, i.e. standing and talking to people, will increase your voter registration rate. Better yet, leave the table at home and bring your ironing board instead. Ironing boards are the right height for writing on, they grab people’s attention and encourage your volunteers to stand and greet people.

Learn your state’s voter registration laws (here is a synopsis for Ohio)

This post is aimed at the Buckeye state. I am not a lawyer, but from what I have read as of June 2019, Ohio law: 1) allows partisan voter registration drives (though any one who specifically asks to fill out a form must be allowed to do so) 2) Allows ex-felons who are no longer incarcerated to register and vote. 3) Allows forms to be filled out by others with the applicant’s permission. 4) Allows you to make copies of the voter registration forms before handing them in. 5) Requires that voter registration forms be handed in or mailed within 2 weeks of the time that they were collected and in any case by the last day of voter registration for an upcoming election. (I recommend handing them as soon as possible, especially as you get closer to the voter registration deadline). 6) Never check the “US citizen” box without asking. 7) All forms that a person has written anything on, must be handed in, no matter how incomplete. See resources below for expert legal opinions.  

Pick a good location and check your supplies

Like in real estate, location is everything. Pick a spot where many Democrats will come by. Make sure that you have plenty of pens, clipboards, voter registration forms and a way to check people’s voter registration status. Make sure that you have a way to lookup a person’s voter record, such as: State of Ohio Voter Lookup, bring a poster identifying your connection to the Democratic party.

Identify yourself as a Democrat

Of course you should register anyone who asks to do so. But, identifying yourself as a Democrat encourages Democrats to talk to you. Wear a shirt identifying yourself as a Democrat, and/or place a sign with Obama’s picture or a county Democratic Party sign.

Engaging people

  The first step is to get people’s attention and get them to think about whether they have moved since the last time that they voted. There are many approaches to this, find an opening line that works for you. Here are a few that I have had success with:

  “The Republicans have been purging voters from the roles. We want to make sure that you don’t lose your right to vote. May I look up your voter registration just to be sure?”

   “We are here to make sure that all Democrats are properly registered at their current address. Do you remember where you voted most recently?”

    “We are registering Democrats to vote. Have you moved since the last time you voted?”

Sometimes it makes sense to ask people if their name has changed since they last voted. This could be as a result of marriage, gender change or any reason.

    Ask for their phone number. Although the phone number is optional, providing one greatly increases the chance that their application will be accepted. The voter registration form is a quiz. One mistake can prevent their application from being accepted. However, in Ohio, as long as you collect their phone number and their signature, any gaps can be completed by phone.

    Check the form right away. Better yet, have a friend check it. Make sure that the handwriting is legible. Illegible handwriting invalidates many voter registration forms.

    Ask everyone. If you start guessing who will be receptive, you may end up talking to very few people.

Back at headquarters – make sure that the voter’s name and address get on the rolls

Double check all the information on each voter registration form. If any information is missing, reach out to the person by phone (text often works best) right away while they still remember filling out the form.

Make a copy of the voter registration form (use a sticky note to hide the social security number and/or driver’s license number). Check to make sure that all voter registration forms result in the appropriate change to the voter database. Typical well-run voter registration drives have a 10% failure rate. If after two weeks the voter still is not registered, let them know that their application has not yet been accepted.

A variety or errors that can disenfranchise a voter. Misspelled names can lead to disenfranchisement. I have seen an E get data entered as a W, putting the voter in a completely different precinct and hence off the rolls on election day.

Voter registration is the first step in a Get Out The Vote campaign.

Consider combining voter registration with a Commit-To-Vote campaign. At a minimum, enter the phone numbers into VoteBuilder so that these voters will be included in the Democratic Party Get-Out-The-Vote drive.

Legal resources:

Project Vote: “Helping Voters Register Under Ohio Law”

Fair Election Network: “Conducting a Voter Registration Drive in Ohio”

State of Ohio: “Voter Registration Instructions”

Law Writer Ohio election law

Resources to help make you more effective:

Resistance School: “How to Register Voters”

nonprofitvote.org: “Tips for ‘Active’ Tabling”  

nonprofitvote.org: “Tips for Asking Someone to Register to Vote”

State of Ohio Voter Lookup