This is an overview of what Vote Early Day is and the role this holiday plays in mobilizing voters across the country. As you build your activation, use these messages as a guide when you communicate with voters, volunteers, partner organizations, and members of the media.
About Vote Early Day:
Vote Early Day is a nonpartisan movement of media companies, businesses, nonprofits, election administrators, and creatives working to ensure all Americans have the tools to vote early. This holiday is a tentpole moment for partners of all stripes to engage with voters and urge them to cast their ballots.
Created in 2020, Vote Early Day has brought thousands of national and local partners together in celebration and activation to increase the number of people voting early. This collaborative, open-source model—similar to Giving Tuesday and National Voter Registration Day—ensures that millions more Americans take advantage of their options to vote early through on-the-ground activations, get-out-the-vote pushes, national communications on traditional and social media, and efforts to create a new culture around voting.
Our goals:
This year, Vote Early Day partners will work together to:
- Empower voters by urging them to take 300,000 powerful, measurable steps toward casting a ballot
- Recruit a broad collaboration of 120 national and 1,400 local partners to build a day of action for our democracy
- Do the long-term work to make Election Day the last day to vote
Why this matters:
When you wait until Election Day, there are a number of barriers that could prevent you from casting a ballot—long lines, last-minute obligations, confusing election laws, and voter disinformation. When you vote early, you have time to plan ahead for anything that might come your way and make sure your voice is heard.
Vote Early Day plays a unique role in encouraging Americans to vote early by making it fun and accessible! By building celebrations across the country, we create a low barrier to entry for participation that helps voters overcome the toxic nature of partisan politics, drawing in new voices and perspectives to the civic space. This is especially important in a year with lots of local and state elections, since these races don’t always get as much attention as federal races! Through a central moment of action, our wide range of partners join to engage with voters and urge them to vote early. Together, we can ensure every American’s voice is heard!
Messaging Guide
Messaging goals:
- Celebrate the act of voting early!
- Spread information about how, where, and when people can vote early.
- Drive people to find and take advantage of their vote early options through Vote Early Day’s online voter tool.
- Bring in new voices to the civic conversation by recruiting a wide range of new partners and supporters.
- Make voting early the norm rather than the exception by showing people that Election Day is just the last day to vote.
Talking points for voting early:
- Millions of Americans are eligible to cast their ballot ahead of Election Day.
- The vast majority of voters have multiple options for how they can cast their ballot early— they can vote in person or by mail at a time that is convenient for them.
- When Americans vote early, they ensure last-minute problems, long lines at the polls, or confusing election laws cannot prevent them from casting their ballot.
- Americans are voting early at record numbers (More people voted early in 2020 than in 2018 and 2016 combined!)
Talking points for Vote Early Day:
- The goal of Vote Early Day is to increase the number of people voting early by giving voters the knowledge and tools to cast their ballot ahead of Election Day.
- Vote Early Day is more than a day of action—it’s a holiday! This is an opportunity to help your community make their voices heard and have fun while doing it.
- We are a trusted, nonpartisan movement dedicated to ensuring that every American has the knowledge and tools to cast their ballot early.
- Vote Early Day’s success comes from the strength of our partnerships. Groups big and small from across the country come together to rally around a tentpole moment of celebration and activation, and together we empower Americans to make their voices heard.
Messaging tips:
- When voters have questions about how to cast a ballot, they look to trusted organizations like you! Be proactive in offering resources and encouragement.
- Many people assume that Election Day is the only day to vote, so be sure to let them know that they have options to vote early! If your organization represents a particular state, county, or region, highlight the specific options for voting early in that area. You can find those on your local election authority’s website or by using our online voter tool.
- Keep the energy fun, engaging, and inviting.
- Make sure to keep your messaging nonpartisan by steering away from any discussion of candidates, political parties, or ballot issues.
- Personal messages—such as why members of your team vote early—are often the most moving and persuasive to potential voters.
- When you post online, always include a video or photo where possible and make sure to tag #VoteEarlyDay.
- Keep your messaging nonpartisan by not including endorsements of candidates, parties, or ballot issues in any of your vote early messaging.
- Every message should include some kind of call to action. Try to direct your audience to take a concrete step toward casting a ballot, such as:
- Locating their polling location
- Making a plan to vote
- Pledging to vote
- Requesting their mail ballot
- Attending your Vote Early Day activation.