GOTV

How to do it:

Democracy is an average of who participates, and 38% of eligible voters, just don’t. We talk about third party voters a lot, but it’s really the people who don’t participate at all that we can influence. Non-voters fall into a few general groups:

Disgusted (hardest to reach)

Some voters are just fed up and want nothing to do with politicians. These voters are harder to reach, and some may not be reachable, but many are angry with the party. While Congress and the White House are important, local races are what builds the direction a party takes. They also control elections and protect or threaten local residents. States with Blue governments had better COVID outcomes, adopted Medicaid expansion, have better educational systems and economies, and more. Focus on the area of participation the voter is still open to.

Uninterested (responds best to 1:1 contact)

Some don’t think politics affects them personally. Find out what they care about and personalize it. Explain how a local Sheriff affects traffic enforcement decisions, or tell them about the School Board candidate who wants to ban books. Invite them to discover that politics is personal.

Disenfranchised (Volunteer! So many options!)

These are the voters the GOP has been targeting. Minorities, people in cities, college students…and group that can be targeted through location for voter purges, polling closures and more. These are also the voters most open to support — many would vote if it didn’t take all day, or would re-register if they knew they’d been purged. This is where the vast majority of GOTV efforts resides, so if you volunteer with an organization, you’ll likely be helping these voters. They’re not unwilling, they just don’t have the energy to “crawl across broken glass” to vote. Here are options for getting involved:

• https://www.fieldteam6.org/ is focused entirely on registration in swing states, through volume. In the ’22 midterms they reached out to 5 million likely-Democratic voters (less than half their list of prospects) who were unregistered, averaging two contacts each. More than 600,000 registered AND voted in places where the margins were small.
• https://www.seedthevote.org focuses on supporting local organizations in swing districts to build power that lasts beyond one election. If you are, yourself, a little ambivalent about the value of voting, this is an excellent group to choose. Whether candidates win or lose, progressive organizing benefits from the effort.
• https://swingleft.org/ identifies and organizes around swing districts year-round. They are first and foremost an elections group, but recognize that elections are the ante. If you are passionate about voting and are tired of a sudden push every second August, consider them.
• Both No Kings and Indivisible, have pivoted to prioritize election work this season. This was what the big protests were for: to build massive movements that could mobilize. If you didn’t join then, you can still join now. After the election they will move back towards other activism.
• https://protectthevote2026.org/ is a pop-up organized around No Kings III and May Day protests to build an apparatus to protect the vote, with extensive support for volunteers
• If you’re a party loyalist, reach out to your local Democratic party apparatus, or consider becoming a PCO.

The good news is that means 2026 is absolutely in play. We can win this election through massive voter turnout and put the brakes on more atrocities. We can’t really rebuild until we have all three houses, with a margin large enough to overcome outliers like Fetterman, but if we work hard we can make Trump a lame duck and send a message to his GOP sycophants in Congress.

So pick a lane and get to work!