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What is GOTV? Get Out the Vote, or GOTV, is the final phase of an election campaign when organizers mobilize likely supporters to cast their ballots. It turns identified support into votes by removing practical barriers, making voting plans, answering last-minute questions, and sending timely reminders.
GOTV is not another name for voter registration or persuasion. Registration makes someone eligible to vote. Persuasion builds support for a candidate or issue. GOTV focuses on people who are eligible and already supportive, then helps them follow through.
This article covers the definition. For the phase-by-phase system campaigns use to run a full program, see CallHub’s complete GOTV strategy guide.
What is Get Out The Vote (GOTV)?
Get Out the Vote, or GOTV, covers the organized activities used to increase turnout among eligible voters. Campaigns, parties, political action committees, unions, advocacy groups, and nonpartisan organizations use calls, texts, canvassing, mail, digital outreach, and voter assistance to help people cast a ballot.
GOTV programs generally fall into two types:
- Nonpartisan GOTV: Organizations encourage eligible people to vote and increase voter turnout without supporting or opposing a party or candidate.
- Partisan GOTV: Campaigns and allied organizations mobilize identified supporters for a particular candidate, party, or cause.
Both types can share the same mechanics, but their targeting and messages differ. A nonpartisan group may send polling-place information to an entire community. A campaign may contact only registered supporters who have not yet voted.
What is the history of GOTV?
GOTV has moved from local party networks to data-led, multichannel organizing, but its core purpose has stayed the same: Turn support into participation.
In the 19th and early 20th centuries, political parties relied heavily on neighborhood organizations, ward leaders, rallies, printed materials, and door-to-door canvassing. Local organizers knew who supported the party and worked to bring those voters to the polls.
As campaigns adopted polling, voter files, and field experiments, GOTV became more systematic. Organizers could separate likely supporters from undecided voters, test different messages, and measure whether a contact method changed turnout.
Modern GOTV combines that field tradition with phone banking, peer-to-peer texting, email, digital ads, relational organizing, early-vote tracking, and ballot-return data. The tools changed. The final question did not: Which supporters still need help voting?
GOTV vs. voter registration vs. persuasion
GOTV, voter registration, and persuasion solve different campaign problems. Mixing them creates weak targeting and confusing scripts.
| Campaign stage | Main objective | Primary audience | Typical timing | Typical action |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Voter registration | Make eligible people able to vote | Unregistered eligible residents | Before registration deadlines | Help someone register or update their record |
| Voter identification | Learn where voters stand | Voters with unknown support | Early and middle campaign | Record support, opposition, or undecided status |
| Persuasion | Build support for a candidate or issue | Undecided or movable voters | Before the final GOTV push | Discuss issues, contrast choices, and answer objections |
| GOTV | Turn existing support into a cast ballot | Supporters who have not yet voted | Early voting through Election Day | Make a voting plan, solve barriers, and send reminders |
A voter can move through several stages. The campaign may register them, learn that they are undecided, persuade them, and later include them in the GOTV universe. Each stage needs its own goal, list, script, and outcome code.
Effective ways to get out the vote
The most effective GOTV tactic depends on the voter and the barrier. High-touch conversations through canvassing and volunteer calls can help voters make plans or solve problems. Texts, mail, and digital outreach make reminders easier to scale. Strong programs assign each channel a clear job instead of treating raw message volume as success.
| GOTV example | Best use | Practical strength |
|---|---|---|
| Door-to-door canvassing | High-priority voters and complex barriers | Personal conversation at the voter’s home |
| Volunteer phone banking | Voting plans, questions, and rapid follow-up | Two-way conversations across a large list |
| Peer-to-peer texting | Reminders, polling links, and quick replies | Fast delivery with individual response handling |
| Direct mail | Voting instructions and deadline information | Physical information voters can keep |
| Digital and social outreach | Reinforcement and volunteer recruitment | Broad reach across existing online networks |
The six items described below are some of the most common GOTV channels political parties adopt.
1. Direct mail
This is an early outreach GOTV tactic. Here, you mail flyers to supporters reminding them of the election day, how they can vote, requesting and submitting absentee ballots, after they’ve completed their voter registration. Here’s an example of a GOTV flyer.
Since these mails go out to those who are already your supporters on some level, much of the real estate on the flyers is dedicated to sharing information rather than advertising the candidate.
2. Online get out the vote efforts
Online Get out the vote usually are targeted toward a younger voters because of the vast presence of the younger generation on the internet. The initiatives typically focus on educating the audience about the process of voting while encouraging them to find voting information and vote, following their voter registration. These efforts often involve leveraging social media platforms to reach potential voters, and they can even include endorsements and messages from trusted elected officials.
Yale University’s GOTV field experiment resources examine how social pressure and interpersonal contact can influence participation. Peer-to-peer campaigning applies that idea by asking people to reach supporters through trusted networks and encourage them to vote.
3. Phonebanking
Get out the vote calls help you establish an authentic personal connection with your potential voters. Directly speaking to your supporters is one of the easiest ways to answer their queries and educate them, especially regarding voter registration.
With phonebanking, volunteers make telephone calls to a list of registered supporters to vote. They remind them of the voting process, their voting options, and the polling place, all of which are crucial aspects of the political process. This is a popular GOTV tactic because it gives you a better reach with lesser resources and is personalized when compared to door-knocking or direct mails.
Also, recent studies have shown that phonebanking can be as good as door-knocking in getting out the vote.
4. Text messaging
88% of participants in a survey said that text messaging is the number one thing they use their phones for. This shows us that text messaging is a notably effective way to reach people.
It’s also a popular way to connect with millennials as they prefer texting over talking on the phone.
Check out this guide with the top tips and templates to send a GOTV text message.
5. Door-to-door canvassing
According to Sasha Issenberg, door-to-door canvassing and years of statistical analysis in political science were the reason behind Obama’s wins in the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections.
Political scientists have even written books about this.
So, we know door knocking works.
Plus, at this point in your GOTV efforts, often, the canvassers are aware of how likely these supporters are to vote for their candidate. So, you already have a connection with your supporters. Why not build on that?
Learn more about canvassing here.
6. Print materials
Print materials can be helpful as a part of the door-to-door canvassing campaign. Canvassers hand out leaflets to potential voters or leave them at their doorstep. This ensures your supporters get the information they need even if you don’t get to interact with them face-to-face.
Important reminder: Include your phone number for your supporters to reach out to if they have any queries.
Check out this complete guide on tools to get out the vote.
Get out the vote process
GOTV begins at the final stages of an election cycle. Before starting GOTV activities, campaigns will have completed
- Voter identification drives,
- Voter persuasion efforts, followed by a
- Voter registration drive to get supporters registered on the voter list and assist them in requesting absentee ballots.
Five to six weeks before the election day (depending on the size of the campaign), campaigners reach out to supporters to urge them to turn out to vote in the upcoming election, following their successful voter registration. For states with early voting process, GOTV efforts start earlier.
Check out this infographic below, which gives a good idea of when you should be doing different GOTV activities until Election Day. For a detailed week-by-week schedule, see CallHub’s GOTV timeline guide.
Important reminder: The most critical part of a GOTV campaign is to know the canvassing laws and rules. Here’s an article that covers the election laws every campaigner must be aware of.
GOTV or get out the vote strategies
Strategy is an integral part of any successful campaign, and GOTV is no exception. Let’s look at the six most important strategies for a successful GOTV campaign.
Do a data-oriented outreach
For a positive outcome, it’s essential to work with the data you have on your supporters from the past. Your focus needs to be on mobilizing your supporters and only your supporters, which is a key aspect of an effective political process. Your GOTV campaign won’t be as effective if you contact your opponent’s supporters. Like-minded people who support your cause are more likely to respond positively.
For this, you need to constantly update and sync the data you collect at each stage of your election campaign. This will ensure that you reach out to only those who are likely to vote for you after successful voter registration.
For instance, in your voter identification campaigns, you will have identified
- People who are likely to vote for you
- People who are undecided
- People who are supporting your opponent, or
- People who are not casting their vote at all.
In your persuasion campaigns, you may manage to move a few people from the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th category to the 1st. Your GOTV campaign will only focus on group 1 and get them to the polls or mail their ballots.
To do so, your volunteers need to confirm if your potential voters:
- Know the election date
- Know their polling stations
- Know their closest ballot box
- Know the vote by mail deadline, and
- Have a voting plan
Pro tip: Once you narrow down your supporters, segment those who vote every year into a separate list. You don’t need to target these supporters as a part of your GOTV campaign because you know they will vote regardless. A better ask is to request them to volunteer for you during this peak time.
Time it right
You should run your GOTV campaigns just weeks before the election day, so your supporters can cast their absentee ballot or prepare to vote, including local elections, following their voter registration. Be it early voting, absentee ballot, or in-person voting; your GOTV campaign should address every category of voters, culminating in a final push on the last day.
See this infographic to better understand how to time your GOTV campaign.
Make the most of your resources
You won’t be able to reach everyone through every channel. Use the data you have from your past campaigns to understand the availability of your contacts on different channels.
For example, say in your phone banking campaign, a voter confirmed they would vote on the election day. Then, they should be added directly to your reminder list.
Switch to automated dialers
Phone conversations usually take up time, precisely what campaigns run short of during the GOTV phase. With an extensive contact list in a GOTV campaign, you need to reach as many people as possible in the available time. Cutting down the time spent dialing numbers that may even be invalid is one way to achieve that.
One solution: Automated dialers.
Automated dialers let you speed up the calling process by taking care of dialing, skipping through wrong numbers, and syncing with the campaign database to bring in voter data.
Phone bankers make around 35 calls per hour when manually dialing numbers from a call list. With an automated dialer like a Predictive Dialer, your volunteers reach up to 110 supporters per hour. In CallHub’s Organizing for Change case study, participating groups reported turnout gains of up to 7% in some ridings while using centralized data and volunteer-team analytics.
Go face to face when you have a large volunteer base
Door knocking has been a staple of GOTV efforts. Yale’s GOTV research archive documents field experiments that campaigns can use to evaluate high-touch voter contact.
If you have a solid team of volunteers for your campaign, organize door-to-door canvassing campaigns in the community and get people to vote. Apps like Ecanvasser and MiniVAN can help you in the process of optimizing your canvassing efforts.
These tips we’ve put together for political canvassers will help too.
Use multichannel communication
To maximize your GOTV impact, use a multi-channel approach, combine:
- Phone calls
- Texts
- Emails
- Social media
- Door-to-door canvassing.
This ensures your message reaches supporters wherever they are, reinforces reminders, and increases the chances of engagement. Tailor your outreach to each platform for the best results.
Use texts to connect to supporters with cellphone numbers
In the 2018 political campaigns, people who received a text message were 1% more likely to vote. Although that may seem like a small percentage, remember that election results can be based on just tens or hundreds of votes, and these small shifts in public opinion can make a significant difference.
Text messaging, especially peer-to-peer texting, allows campaign volunteers to interact with around 1500 supporters in an hour. This means your volunteer can talk to multiple supporters simultaneously and answer their queries in real-time.
When voters feel like they have a point of contact at the campaign to whom they can reach for any information whatsoever, your chances of securing the vote shoot up.
GOTV Beyond Election Day
GOTV doesn’t end when polls close. After Election Day, thank your supporters, volunteers, and voters for their participation. Gather feedback to improve future campaigns and maintain engagement through regular updates. Keeping your base active and appreciated helps build long-term loyalty and prepares your network for future elections and advocacy efforts.
For a better idea of how peer-to-peer texting works, check out the GOTV guide using peer-to-peer texting.
Who runs a get out the vote(GOTV) campaign?
Political campaigns, political parties, PACs, unions, advocacy groups, religious organizations, and nonprofits can all run GOTV programs. Some manage the work in-house. Others coordinate with allied organizations that share their goals.
These include:
- Election campaigns and political parties
- Political action committees
- Trade organizations such as unions
- Religious organizations such as churches
- Single-issue groups such as nonprofits
- Advocacy groups.
Partisan groups can target identified supporters and advocate for candidates within the rules that apply to them. Nonpartisan organizations focus on participation, voter education, and access without favoring a candidate or party.
However, 501(c)(3) nonprofits can only engage in nonpartisan GOTV efforts. This means that a nonprofit organization can conduct a GOTV campaign as long as it aims to educate its audience and not promote a candidate or party.
The activities can include helping voters register to vote, get to the polls, distributing voter education guides, conducting public forums on voter turnout-related issues, and assisting with voter registration.
Turn GOTV knowledge into a coordinated turnout plan
GOTV starts after a campaign knows whom it needs to mobilize. Registration establishes eligibility, persuasion builds support, and GOTV turns that support into a completed ballot.
The strongest program matches each voter barrier with the right contact. Use conversations for planning and problem-solving, scalable channels for reminders, and clean data to stop contacting people who have already voted.
CallHub’s political campaign platform brings phone banking, peer-to-peer texting, and volunteer coordination into one system, so your GOTV program runs on the same contact list and outcome data from the first canvass shift through Election Day. See how these tools come together specifically for turnout programs on CallHub’s GOTV platform page.
Frequently asked questions
What does GOTV stand for?
GOTV stands for Get Out the Vote. In politics, it refers to organized efforts that help eligible voters cast their ballots, especially during early voting and the final days before Election Day.
What is the meaning of GOTV in politics?
The GOTV meaning in politics is voter mobilization, not persuasion. Campaigns identify supporters, make voting plans, answer logistical questions, resolve barriers, and remind those supporters to vote.
When does GOTV start?
GOTV timing depends on voting rules and campaign size. Programs often intensify several weeks before Election Day and start earlier where absentee or early voting is available.
Who runs GOTV campaigns?
Campaigns, political parties, PACs, unions, advocacy groups, churches, and nonprofits can run GOTV programs. Their targeting and messages depend on whether the program is partisan or nonpartisan.
Is GOTV partisan?
GOTV can be partisan or nonpartisan. A campaign may mobilize its identified supporters, while a nonpartisan organization encourages participation without supporting or opposing a candidate or party.
How is GOTV different from voter registration?
Voter registration makes an eligible person able to vote. GOTV helps registered voters follow through by making a plan, finding voting information, resolving barriers, and casting a ballot.
What GOTV tactics are most successful?
High-touch tactics such as canvassing and volunteer calls are useful when voters need a plan or help resolving barriers. Texts, mail, email, and digital outreach scale reminders, so the best programs combine channels around a shared voter list.
