I either work phones or knock on doors for every general election. I made a 150 mile round trip yesterday to knock on Fort Collins CO doors for the Democrats in CO.
Of course they give you a little 10 minute training session, then they give you a packet full of the voter lists and some other stuff, then send you on your way.
When I opened up that packet, my jaw nearly dropped to the floor. I worked on CO Senator Bennet's (the father of the Bannock street project) campaign in 2010, and the operation they had this year was FAR more sophisticated.
I've been reading several papers later, written by political scientists, on how to improve turnout. They use techniques like calling people "voters", using phrases like "voters like you", talking about other voters in your neighborhood, asking them about when they plan on voting... The script in the packet covered ALL of these techniques!
In the past, I was usually given a precinct map and a list of Democrats in the precinct and told to go urge them to vote. The city of Fort Collins doesn't have precincts anymore we have voting centers and ballot drop off locations.
It was clear they had used a GIS (geographic information system) program to break up the city in the most efficient parcels to canvass. There was a map that went right from the headquarters door, to almost the parking spot you should park in. Another page contained Google map like instructions, turn right here, turn left there.. of how to get there. Then there was a map of the area you would be covering.
The contact list was laid out in the most efficient way to cover the area. From your car you went up one side of the street and then down the other and all the names were laid out in that order.
Each name had several categories like "moved", "contacted", "not home"... You could also rate the person on how strong they supported the candidate.
It was by far the most efficient operation I've ever seen. I remember wasting a lot of time in previous elections trying to find a street or an address, or having the lists laid out in a way that you were constantly shuffling papers looking for the right place.
If you've ever been hesitant to knock on doors because it seemed too confusing, those days are gone or will soon be gone. I didn't make any phone calls but I imagine they've made similar progress with phone lists and phone scripts.
So you not only don't have anymore excuses not to GOTV, you might even find it enjoyable. I never had a single door slammed in my face, which is pretty unusual. And a big reason for that is they've improved the targeting so much you're much more likely to be knocking on a supporters door than a right wingers door. And when you knock on a door where the people have just voted and they're all excited and they're thanking you for getting out and working for the candidate, well, that really makes you feel good.
So get down to the local Democratic party office, or your favorite candidates office, and knock on some doors, or make some calls, and let's prove that the Bannock street project has made polling techniques from the 90's obsolete because of the GOTV techniques of the 20-teens.
And if you need another reason to go GOTV, I got to meet Sen Udall, Sen Bennet, congressman Polis, and Jill Biden yesterday. How cool is that?
GOTV! GOTV! GOTV! GOTV! GOTV! GOTV! GOTV! GOTV! GOTV! GOTV! GOTV! GOTV!