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Get out the vote (GOTV)
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GOTV makes our community stronger because it:
- Increases voter turnout and makes democracy work
- Helps ensure that the people nonprofits work with every day have a say in who will represent them
- Gives us a chance to continue to talk with people about the issues
- Ensures that our elected officials truly represent us
- Tips on how to conduct an effective nonpartisan get-out-the-vote drive provided by The Minnesota Participation Project has assembled a Get Out the Vote Toolbox (PDF).
- Latest research on what works in getting out the vote: The Yale Civic Engagement Project, in conjunction with the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE), is conducting a wide range of randomized, controlled experiments to find out what interventions increase voter participation and what have little or no impact on voter turnout. Click here to read more.
- Resources/tips on getting people involved in the voting process.
- Organizations and resources
- Women’s Voices, Women Vote
- Your Vote Matters - Sponsored by Working Assets, this site links the user to on-line register in their specific state, allows them to send e-mails to groups of friends to help get them to register to vote, allows the user to sign up for volunteer voter registration efforts, and to sign up for e-mail alerts about events in their area.
- League of Women Voters is a grassroots nonpartisan political organization that works to improve goverment and public policy through citizen education and advocacy.
- Youth Vote - a national, nonpartisan coalition of diverse organizations dedicated to engaging youth ages 18-30 in the political process.
- 18to35 - a national, non-profit, non-partisan policy organization dedicated to engaging young adults in the political process. Works to "Get Out the Voice" of youg adults.
- Black Youth Vote - an initiative of The National Coalition on Black Civic Participation, Black Youth Vote is an intensive effort to increase political and civic participation of African American youth.
- Declare Yourself - a national non-partisan, non-profit campaign to energize and empower new voters - ages 18 to 24 - to participate in the 2004 presidential election. In 2004, Declare Yourself rallied young Americans through a live spoken word and music tour of college campuses; an unprecedented nationwide voter education initiative for high school seniors; a massive voter registration drive; and a televised "Get out the vote" concert, among other efforts. New activities are being planned for the 2006 midterm elections.
- First Vote - a non-partisan, classroom-based voter registration, education and citizenship program for high school students sponsored by the Close Up Foundation.
- New Millennium Young Voters Project - an initiative of the National Association of Secretaries of State, this project operates a website geared to young people with information on how and where to vote.
- Hip-Hop Team Vote - a project of the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network, with initiatives aimed at engaging the Hip-Hop generation in community development issues related to equal access to high quality public education and literacy, freedom of speech, voter education, economic advancement and youth leadership development.
- Rock the Vote - engages youth in the political process by incorporating the entertainment community and youth culture into its activities. Rock the Vote's media campaigns and street team activities work to increase youth voter turnout by coordinating voter registration drives, get-out-the-vote events and voter education efforts.
- Student Vote 2006 GROW and EAT Campaigns are projects of the United States Student Association to provide training in grassroots organizing and electoral action for students and youth.
- Virginia21 - an "action-tank" engaging Virginia's young people in the political process on issues related to education, economic opportunity and quality of life.
Communities of Color
- The National Coalition on Black Civic Participation, Inc. - an organization dedicated to increasing African American participation in civil society.
- Southwest Voter Registration Education Project - committed to educating Latino communities across the Southwest about the democratic process, the importance of voter registration and voter participation. Its core mission is to politically empower Latinos by increasing civic engagement in the American electoral system.
- Voter Empowerment Program - a NAACP campaign designed to empower the African American community by increasing awareness and participation in the full political process in local, state and federal elections.
- Sanctified Seven - Victory Through Voting - a program of the African-American Ministers Leadership Council to enlist congregations in efforts to register, educate, and moblize African-Americans to vote.
Disenfranchised Communities
- Arrive With Five - a non-partisan campaign by People for the American Way that encourages women, people of color, the elderly, and the disabled to make their voices heard by participating in elections. In addition to pledging to vote, program participants promise to "Arrive With Five" - that is, bring five friends or neighbors to the polls with them on Election Day.
- Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now is the nation's largest organization for low- and moderate-income families. In the most recent election cycle, ACORN registered over 200,000 new voters, and made over 1 million non-partisan contacts to infrequent voters encouraging them to vote.
- Project Vote Since 1982, Project Vote has registered more than four million voters from low-income and minority neighborhoods. today, Project Vote serves as the top technical assistance and direct service provider to the voter engagement community, providing resources for voter registration, election administration, and voter education.
- Voter Registration, Education and Mobilization - a project of the National Low-Income Housing Coalition that enlists community-based organizations, tenant organizations, low income housing providers, and other entities that interact regularly with low-income people to promote civic engagement.
Disabled Communities
- VOTE! Campaign - a non-partisan, statewide voter empowerment campaign of the Tennessee Disability Coalition; organizes the disability community to be an important force in the political and policy process.