FINAL MOVE TO VICTORY : GOTV

The final stretch of a campaign encompasses countless elements that will often make or break efforts to push a candidate across the finish line: making closing arguments to potential voters, working last-minute media relations to garner positive publicity, and diligently using financial resources to squeeze the most efficiency out of every last penny are a few examples. However, a vital component – arguably the most significant to achieving victory – is the all-important Get Out The Vote, or GOTV: establishing a targeted ground game to pull last-minute support into your column on Election Day.

Campaigns traditionally go through an early period where they examine the electoral DNA that make up their district; going precinct-by-precinct and determining which ones historically vote along their party lines and which ones often go for the opposition. Targeting the swing areas, or 50/50 precincts, that could realistically go either way depending on turnout, customarily takes up a significant portion of work and time. It is here where campaigns employ micro-targeting and persuasion: learning as much as possible about voters – what issues are important and relevant to their lives – and then based on this information providing a sound and convincing argument why they should support their candidacy, persuading them to cast a ballot on their behalf. Ideally, a campaign wants to reach out to these voters at least three times whether by phone-banking or volunteers knocking on doors, the goal is to make these 50/50 precincts 49/51 or more in your favor.

As the calendar moves from summer, past Labor Day and into the fall, the final election-sprint takes place and effective campaigns carry out a targeted GOTV strategy. This is a period of days, maybe a week at the most, before Election Day, when you direct efforts to pull voters in precincts that traditionally support your type of candidacy or political party; here is when you direct attention to precincts that are closer to 70/30 in your favor and not so much towards swing areas, this is the time to push, pull, and drag voters to the polls and make sure your supporters are represented on Election Day.

A fundamental flaw for many campaigns that come up short and are unable to win has been the failure to reach out to these traditionally strong areas of support in the final stages of an election. An effective GOTV effort can sway results by four to six percentage points and is often the key to victory. Many voters, especially in off-year elections, need that final push and personal contact to remind them to turn out in November.

Election Day is looming closer and closer. Campaigns that have specific and detailed plans to devote the final days to a GOTV ground game in areas of traditional support have a much better chance for realizing victory, while those that fail to implement this strategy risk falling short and facing ultimate defeat.