Persuasion gets the attention, but turnout decides elections. A Get-Out-the-Vote (GOTV) program is the organized effort to make sure your identified supporters actually cast ballots. Done well, it is planned months in advance and executed with precision in the final weeks. Here is how to build one.

Step 1: Know who your voters are

GOTV starts with identification. Through voter contact — doors, phones, texts, and digital — your campaign identifies supporters and records them. By the time the GOTV window opens, you should have a clear list of people who intend to vote for you but may need a reminder or a nudge to actually vote. Targeting your turnout effort at identified supporters is far more effective than generic reminders to everyone.

Step 2: Understand your election''s voting rules and calendar

Turnout planning must reflect how voting actually works in your state: early voting dates and locations, absentee and mail ballot rules, registration deadlines, and Election Day polling hours. These details vary by state and can change, so verify current rules with your state election authority — in Louisiana, the Secretary of State — before building voter-facing communications around them.

Step 3: Choose your contact methods

  • Door-to-door canvassing — the most personal contact, and labor-intensive.
  • Phone calls — direct conversation at greater scale.
  • Text messaging — fast, timely reminders with voting information and links.
  • Direct mail — tangible voting reminders that arrive before the voting window.
  • Digital advertising — reinforcement across the channels voters use daily.

Most campaigns layer several methods, repeating contact as the voting window progresses.

Step 4: Build the calendar backward

Start from Election Day and the first day of early voting, and work backward. Plan waves of contact: an initial push when early voting opens, reminders through the period, and intensive contact in the final days. Voters who have not yet cast a ballot get continued contact; those who have voted come off the list.

Step 5: Organize Election Day operations

Election Day is an operation, not an event. Plan for:

  1. Volunteer shifts and assignments — who is calling, texting, and knocking, and when.
  2. Tracking who has voted — where election officials make turnout data available, use it to focus remaining effort.
  3. Rides and logistics — helping supporters who need assistance getting to the polls, where permitted.
  4. A final push — last reminders before polls close.

Common GOTV mistakes

  • Starting too late to identify supporters first.
  • Contacting everyone instead of targeting identified supporters.
  • Ignoring early and absentee voting and concentrating only on Election Day.
  • Failing to remove voters who have already cast ballots from contact lists.

Learn how we support turnout through political SMS and voter outreach and our work with Louisiana campaigns.

Next step

Schedule a campaign consultation and we will help you build a turnout plan matched to your electorate and your election calendar.