GET OUT THE VOTE (GOTV)

8 July 2026

GOTV encompasses all the actions needed to get a candidate elected or an initiative passed or defeated, from building candidate and initiative awareness to registration drives to make sure voters know key dates and reminding voters to vote.

GOTV actions can be writing postcards and letters, making phone calls, sending texts, or going door to door to talk with potential voters. There are many organizations that help people do this work. It can be done anywhere in the country and has been documented to increase voting in any district or state—red, purple, or blue.

GOTV actions can be informative—how to register to vote, where to vote, how to vote, and what ID is needed to register and vote. They are also how candidates build support: Early on, campaigns will reach out to low propensity or swing voters on behalf of a candidate to persuade and build a list of likely supporters. Later in the cycle, GOTV actions are all about registering voters, ensuring they indeed vote, and staffing help lines to address issues or questions.

Lastly, no candidate can run a successful campaign without funds to reach voters.

See below for deeper explanations of each action, as well as campaigns you can hook into. On our Take Action page, you will find specific GOTV actions you can take every week.

Postcards

Our Wallingford Indivisible specialty is Postcard Power—you can write postcards in person with others (twice a month), on zoom (once a week), or by yourself whenever you have time. It’s a tested and proven way to help get out the vote!

• To join Wallingford Indivisible postcard parties, email postcardpowerwa@gmail.com.

• Write postcards with Activate America.

Letter writing

Letter writing is perhaps the easiest—you print out a letter that an organization sends you, write a sentence to personalize it, address the envelope with addresses provided, and mail it out. You need a printer, envelopes, and letter stamps. 

Write letters with:

• Vote Riders

• VoteFwd

Texting

Texting is a fun, easy way to help get out the vote. Each organization will teach you how to use their platform to send texts. It is generally easiest to work on your computer, but an iPad or phone will also work. The texts are not sent from your personal phone number, so there is no identifying information. 

Text banks may be informational or support an individual candidate or initiative. There are several organizations that run texting campaigns and each one can work a little differently.

Text with:

• Texting Tuesdays with Black Voters Matter

• Text on Tap with Field Team 6

• Vote Riders

Phonebanks

Phonebanks are a wonderful and easy way to connect with voters. Each organization will teach you how to use their platform and provide a script to follow. You don’t need to have prior knowledge of a candidate or a particular state’s voting laws before making calls. You don’t use your own phone number, so there is no identifying information about you. It’s easiest to use your own phone and plug it in to your computer. The program dials the numbers for you and only connects you when a person picks up, so you don’t end up dialing numbers that aren’t answered.

Join one of these phonebanking efforts:

• Go to Indivisible Trainings & Calls, and type "phonebank" in the Search box.

• Center for Common Ground Phone Banks

• Phone Bank with Ground Truth 

• Call 4 Change

Canvassing

Join a group or grab some friends, put on your sneakers, and go door knocking! Typically, you will download an application to your phone that will provide addresses of potential voters that campaigns are targeting. You'll have scripts to use when you talk with them. This app will also be where you record your interactions, such as No One Home, Likely Voter, or Moved. You then go door to door recording your interactions, typically for a couple of hours after training. 

The goal is to speak with likely or potential voters, ensure they are aware of key dates, assess their commitment to a candidate or initiative, and report this data to the campaign. Canvassing plays a crucial role in mobilizing voters and is central to the ground game of political campaigns.

Voter registration

A voter registration drive is a coordinated effort to register new voters. Participants distribute voter registration forms, provide assistance in completing them, and return the forms to elections offices. State laws govern how voter registration drives are conducted.

Register voters with:

• Defund Musk Postcard Parties

• Text on Tap with Field Team 6

Voter and election protection

Voter protection is about helping voters across the country navigate the voting process and cast their ballot without obstruction, confusion, or intimidation. Efforts include deploying on-the-ground volunteers at polling places, staffing teams of volunteers and legal experts to answer hotline calls, and monitoring social media for election disinformation. They are keys to safeguarding the right to vote and prevent voter suppression. This work has become even more critical since the protections afforded in the Voting Rights Act have been effectively gutted by this Supreme Court.

• Common Cause Election Protection

• Democratic National Committee (DNC) Voter Protection

Donations

Since the Citizen’s United Supreme Court case, which ruled that corporations, unions, and nonprofit organizations can spend unlimited money on independent political communications, our elections are flooded with dollars from corporate PACs and a few very wealthy donors funneling money through dark money channels.

Progressive Democrats are rejecting corporate PACs and dark money. Instead, they rely on small dollar donations to fuel their campaigns. Without donations, campaigns cannot engage with the electorate, get out their message, hire staff, or fund print and social media campaigns. Candidates cannot effectively run a campaign without funds. Initiatives cannot effectively be mounted or defeated without funds. The many can defeat the money!

Here are two innovative ways to donate effectively.

• Support progressive candidates of color (FirstMile) in down ballot races across Washington state.

• Fund local organizing (Movement Voters Project) in every swingable Senate, House, and down ballot race.