With every Vote Early Day celebration, we want to help as many voters as possible take measurable steps toward casting their ballot in a fun and engaging atmosphere. We encourage everyone to celebrate in a way that best fits the needs of their friends, family, and community. This guide will help provide some inspiration and suggestions for outreach ideas, but how you celebrate is totally up to you!
Celebrate through Social Media Outreach
Overview:
Spread the word about voting early through social media! Creative content on your choice of social media platform can encourage and empower voters to go to the polls.
Examples:
- Post a video on your Instagram story about why you are voting early:
Explaining to your followers why you vote early is a super easy and personal way that you can encourage them to do so as well! Feel free to share a story about an experience voting early, why you like the flexibility of voting early, or whatever else comes to mind.
- Text our Voter Tool (on our Resources page) to your friends and family:
Vote Early Day’s Voter Tool resource can help voters find out when and where to vote. By sending this to members of your community, you can encourage friends and family members to make a plan to vote and help them figure out how to cast a ballot.
- Join a #VoteEarlyDay Twitterstorm on Vote Early Day:
We will be hosting several Twitterstorms in the weeks leading up to Vote Early Day. These are national days of action where our partners come together to flood Twitter with positive messages and resources for voting early. To participate, simply log onto Twitter during the hours of our Twitterstorm and tweet resources and reminders about voting early using the hashtag #VoteEarlyDay. You can learn more about our Twitterstorms here.
- Make a TikTok that shares state-specific dates for voting early:
State election laws can get confusing, so you can make your followers more confident about local elections by sharing state-specific dates with them. People will be more empowered to vote early if they know which dates they can go to the polls!
- Post a series of polls on your Insta story that ask your followers questions about when, where, and how they will vote:
Polls are a fun and interactive way to see how far along your followers are in planning their vote. By launching a series of polls on your Instagram, you can remind your online community what they should think about to make a voting plan. This is also a chance for you to see where there are gaps in knowledge that you can help fill in.
- Link voteearlyday.org or another voter information website in your bio:
People often get curious about a link in someone’s bio on social media. Linking to voteearlyday.org or another voter information site is a great way to ensure that whoever sees your profile is more likely to make a plan to vote early.
- Post an Instagram Note telling your followers to make a plan to vote:
The Note feature on Instagram (posting 24-hour messages that show up in the DM area) has been super popular lately so you should definitely take advantage! A short statement reminding your followers to make a plan to vote or telling them about a voter information resource is the perfect way to encourage political participation.
- Host a Twitter competition for “why I vote early” tweets:
Encourage your Twitter followers to post the most compelling reason to vote early. The person with the most liked Tweet wins! Bonus points if you offer the winner of the competition a shoutout.
- Make a TikTok that documents your process of voting! (just make sure to comply with the rules of the polling place!):
Film a TikTok that walks through your commute to and from your polling place as you go to vote early! If people see your trip to the ballot box, they will definitely be encouraged to go vote. Be sure to remember that many states ban or restrict taking pictures of your ballot, so be very careful if you choose to film inside your polling place.
- Post information about voting early on an anonymous forum app like YikYak or Sidechat:
Sharing voter information on an anonymous app is a way to post on social media without worrying about unconscious bias or other barriers getting in the way. You could potentially reach a wider or different audience by posting a short message about voting early on an anonymous forum app!
Why this celebration works:
The more your friends see “I voted” selfies and Vote Early Day graphics on their feeds, the more likely they are to feel they’re missing out on the fun if they haven’t voted yet. When you post, use #VoteEarlyDay, include a link to the Vote Early Day online voter tool or other helpful resources, and encourage your friends to share their voting experience too! You can find sample social media posts here.
Celebrate by Helping Friends and Family Vote
Overview:
People are much more likely to vote early if they know that their friends and family are doing it too. Share your voting story with the people you care about and nudge them to take that last step of casting their ballot.
Examples:
- Vote as a group:
Get a bunch of your friends and family together and walk or carpool to a location for voting early (either in person or with a ballot drop box). Go out for ice cream afterwards to celebrate!
- Call, text, or email your personal network:
A simple “I voted early today! Did you?” message on Vote Early Day can go a long way. Send at least 3 friends and family members a link to the Vote Early Day online voter tool to help them make a plan to cast their ballots early. Keep the momentum going by asking each of them to pass along the resource to 3 of their friends as well. Check out our sample phone, text, and email scripts for inspiration.
Goals:
For this kind of Vote Early Day celebration, we will measure our success nationwide by the number of voters who take one of the following actions:
- Cast a ballot on Vote Early Day (either in person or with a ballot drop box)
- Post a photo on social media with their “I voted” sticker and tag #VoteEarlyDay
As you begin to plan out your activation, you can use this worksheet to determine an achievable goal.
Why this celebration works:
Studies show that a personal push from a friend or family member can be the most effective way to get someone to cast their ballot. Whether it’s in person, over text, or on social media, the more you talk about voting early, the more it becomes the norm for your personal n
Celebrate by Educating Voters
Overview:
Help the people in your personal network understand their options for voting early and take an active step toward casting their ballot on Vote Early Day!
Examples:
- Write a letter to the editor about voting early:
Spread the word about voting early through your local media! In a letter to the editor, you can share your voting story, what this election means to you, and what people’s options are for voting early. Include a link to the online voter tool on the Vote Early Day website to make it easy for readers to make a plan to vote. Give your local paper a few weeks’ notice and see if you can coordinate with them to have the letter published on Vote Early Day. You can find tips for your LTE here.
- Make a pitch at a class, office, or community meeting:
Ask for a minute at the start of a meeting to remind people to vote early on Vote Early Day. Share information about where people can vote early and why this election is so important. Be sure to share why this election matters to you! By the end of the meeting, make sure that everyone has made their plan to vote using the Vote Early Day online voter tool or our print-at-home cards. You can find a sample script here.
Goals:
For Vote Early Day educational celebrations, we will measure our success nationwide by the number of voters who take one of the following actions:
- Make a concrete plan for when and where they will cast their ballot
- Fill out a pledge that they will cast their ballot early
- Find their location for voting early (either in person or with a ballot drop box)
- Request their absentee ballot
As you begin to plan out your activation, you can use this worksheet to determine an achievable goal for your organization.
Why this celebration works:
Studies show that people are much more likely to vote if they make a concrete plan for how they’re going to cast their ballot. Vote Early Day celebrations are the perfect opportunity to help voters think through their options for voting early and decide which method works best for them.