By mid-October, your campaign has knocked the doors, sent the mail, and made its case. The debates are over, and most voters have decided. But somewhere on your list are hundreds or thousands of supporters who, despite agreeing with you, still might not vote. The usual barriers are familiar: a mail ballot that never gets sent back, a polling place that moved, a work shift that runs until the polls close.
This cycle is different. On top of those everyday obstacles, independent oversight of our elections has come under direct pressure, and the Supreme Court has narrowed the protections of the Voting Rights Act. Election officials are even preparing for the possibility of law enforcement stationed outside polling places, which could make some voters, especially first-time voters and those in marginalized communities, think twice about showing up. MAGA Republicans are betting that confusion, fear, and exhaustion will keep voters home. A strong get-out-the-vote (GOTV) program is how you make sure that bet doesn’t pay off.
Every supporter who has a plan, knows their polling place, and knows their rights is a vote that holds up under pressure. The next two weeks are your window to reach them. Here’s what to focus on in each stretch, from now all the way up until polls close on Tuesday, November 3.
Days 14 to 8 (October 20 to 26): Help voters make a plan
The first week is about getting supporters to commit to how and when they’ll vote, and banking as many early and mail ballots as you can.
Start with a clean list. Your GOTV universe is everyone you’ve identified as a supporter or likely supporter: people who said yes at the door, replied positively to a text, or score well in your voter file modeling. Lock it on day one so you aren’t debating targets mid-push.
For example, a state house campaign might combine 2,500 supporters identified at the door with 4,000 more whose voter file scores put them above its support threshold. That list of 6,500 is who you talk to for the next two weeks.
Scrub your lists every day. Most states and counties post early vote and absentee return files, many of them daily. Assign one person to pull each update and match it against your universe before volunteers start their shifts. Otherwise, volunteers spend their time contacting people who voted days ago.
Ask voters to make a plan. In a 2010 study, researchers David Nickerson and Todd Rogers found that asking voters when, where, and how they’d vote raised turnout, while a standard reminder call did little. Build those three questions into your texts and calls this week.
Example text: Hi [Name], it’s Maya, a volunteer with [Candidate] for City Council. Early voting starts Tuesday. Do you know how you’ll vote this year: early, by mail, or on November 3?
If they say early: Great! What day works best? The site at [Library] is open [hours] and has free parking.
For ActBlue Express users, our Commit to Vote tool asks supporters to pledge to vote in Donor HQ, then helps them note when and where they’ll vote and submit a reminder request by calendar, email, or text. By submitting a GOTV reminder request, you agree that ActBlue may send you a reminder to vote. ActBlue will not use the contact information you provide here for any other contact with you.
Supporters can share their pledge with friends, which turns one commitment into a personal ask. It’s free, and there’s nothing for your campaign to set up — just point supporters to this page in your texts and emails this week.
Push early voting. In states with in-person early voting, share locations, hours, and what to bring. Voters who cast ballots early come off your lists, and every early vote means one less person to follow up with on Election Day.
Follow up on mail ballots. Pull the list of supporters who requested a mail ballot but haven’t returned it. Remind them of the deadline, and tell them whether they can still mail it or should use a drop box instead. Mail timelines get tight fast in the last two weeks.
Example text: Hi [Name], this is [Volunteer] with [Candidate]. County records show your mail ballot hasn’t been received yet. In [State], it has to arrive by [date], so the safest bet now is the drop box at [location]. It’s open 24 hours.
Give volunteers and supporters a quick-reference guide. Put your state’s key voting rules on one page: early voting dates and hours, drop box locations, whether mail ballots need a postmark or must arrive by Election Day, and how the ballot cure process works. Rules have shifted in some states since the last election, so confirm every detail with your state election office.
Make voter protection easy to find. Connect with your state party’s voter protection team. Put their hotline, along with the nonpartisan Election Protection hotline at 866-OUR-VOTE (866-687-8683), in every script and volunteer packet. Train volunteers to route problems at the polls, like a voter being challenged, turned away, or intimidated, to those hotlines instead of trying to solve them on the spot.
Days 7 to 4 (October 27 to 30): Get every ballot returned and counted
By now your universe is shrinking as ballots come in. This week, focus on the voters still outstanding and making sure submitted ballots get counted.
Shift mail voters to drop-off. In many states, at this point it’s too late to count on the mail. Check your state’s rules, then tell outstanding mail voters to use a drop box, return the ballot in person, or vote in person if that’s allowed.
Start “curing” ballots, if allowed. Some returned ballots get flagged for a missing signature, a signature mismatch, or another fixable problem. Many states (but not all) give voters a short window to fix it. If this applies to your state, get your cure list from your state party or county, and contact those voters fast. This is where a phone call or a door knock beats a text, because the voter often needs a walkthrough.
Example call opener: Hi, is this [Name]? I’m calling from [Campaign] because the county flagged your mail ballot for a signature issue. It’s quick to fix, and you have until [date]. Can I walk you through it?
Bring in relational organizing. Ask volunteers to reach out to friends, family, and neighbors who are in your universe. A message from someone they know gets read differently than one from a campaign they don’t.
For example, a volunteer might match their phone contacts against your universe, find 15 people they know, and send each one a personal note: “Hey! Early voting’s open at the rec center until 7 p.m. Want to go together Saturday?”
Move volunteers to the highest-value work. Look at your return data daily and put people where the outstanding voters are. That might mean fewer broad reminder texts and more targeted follow-up calls.
Say your return data shows one precinct lagging well behind the rest of the district. You might cancel a Thursday phone bank focused on the whole universe and send those volunteers to knock doors in that precinct instead.
The final four days (October 31 to November 3): Get out the vote
If your follow-up work went well, your list is much shorter by now. These four days are about reaching every supporter still on it.
Saturday and Sunday: Knock doors. Send canvassers to your densest turfs of outstanding supporters. Confirm each voter’s plan, give them their polling place, and remind them of any weekend early voting hours if your state has them.
Help supporters vote with confidence. Some supporters, especially first-time voters, may be nervous about reports of law enforcement near polling places. Remind them that intimidating voters is against federal law and that poll workers and election protection volunteers are there to help. If something doesn’t feel right, they should tell a poll worker or call 866-OUR-VOTE.
Example text: Hi [Name], it’s [Volunteer] with [Candidate]. You have every right to vote, and intimidating voters is against federal law. If anything feels off at the polls, tell a poll worker or call 866-OUR-VOTE. Your polling place is [Location]. See you there!
Monday: Send the reminder. Text every outstanding supporter their polling location and hours for Tuesday. Keep it short and specific. Follow up with calls to anyone who asked for a ride or had a question.
Example text: Hi [Name], tomorrow is Election Day! Your polling place is [Location], open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Need a ride or have a question about voting? Just reply here.
Election Day morning: Remind again. A quick text first thing catches voters before work and school drop-offs.
Election Day afternoon: Follow-up. If you have access to poll check-in data, use it to pull who hasn’t voted yet and focus your calls and texts there. Put your most experienced volunteers on these lists.
The last hour: One more push. Remind voters that anyone in line when polls close can still vote. Make sure volunteers know how to reach your voter protection hotline if someone runs into trouble at the polls.
Know the use cases for each channel
Each channel does a different job in these two weeks, so plan volunteer shifts around what each one is good at.
| Channel | Best for | Lean on it most |
| Peer-to-peer texting | Plan-making conversations, reminders, and quick answers at scale | All two weeks |
| Broadcast texting | Polling locations, hours, and deadline reminders to large lists | The final four days |
| Phone banking | Ballot follow-up, curing, and voters who need a walkthrough | Days 7 to Election Day |
| Canvassing | High-density turfs and voters who haven’t responded elsewhere | The final weekend |
| Relational organizing | Hard-to-reach supporters who trust a familiar name | Days 7 to Election Day |
Reach every supporter before November 3 with ActBlue Field Tools
Right now, somewhere on your list, there’s a supporter whose ballot is buried under a pile of mail. There’s another whose kid might get sick on Election Day. Some will have to work a double-shift, and others may struggle with transportation to their polling place. The next two weeks decide whether anyone reaches them in time.
ActBlue Field Tools gives your team every channel this plan runs on: peer-to-peer and broadcast texting for plan-making and reminders, phone banking for follow-up and cure calls, canvassing for the final weekend, and relational organizing so volunteers can reach the people they already know. There’s no licensing fee, and you pay only for what you use.
Get started now and have your GOTV program ready before November.
This post is provided for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Campaign practices, including voter contact, data use, and fundraising, are governed by federal, state, and local law that varies by jurisdiction and changes over time. You are responsible for your campaign’s compliance. Consult your own legal counsel with legal questions.
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