Warning! Voting May Be Habit-forming
Voting is a habit. People who vote have a pattern of voting and are members of social networks of voters. Their friends, coworkers, family members, and neighbors also vote regularly.
On the flip side, people who do not have the habit of voting may be members networks that don't include many regular voters.
AAUW branches can increase the numbers of regular voters by bringing nonvoters into their network. This can be done woman to woman.
Women wield considerable power in U.S. politics.
For more than a century, AAUW has influenced legislative debate and taken positions on the fundamental issues of the day — educational, social, economic, and political. Although women gained the constitutional right to vote nationwide only in 1920, they now constitute an important bloc of voters.
The Woman-to-Woman Voter Turnout Campaign is based on effective voter turnout techniqes and will mobilize women to vote.
AAUW members planning get-out-the-vote activities can request technical assistance and a free printed copy of the manual (while supplies last) by contacting the AAUW Public Policy and Government Relations Department at 202/785-7793 or VoterEd@aauw.org. Members and nonmembers may purchase copies through ShopAAUW as well.
AAUW members should login to download a Woman-to-Woman Voter Turnout Program in a Box in order to give a presentation at a branch meeting to learn how such a campaign would work in your community and additional resources listed below.
The Woman-to-Woman Voter Turnout Program in a Box is a PowerPoint™ presentation with speaker’s notes.
- You will need a computer and projector to show the slide show for the presentation. If you do not have access to a projector, you can print out the PowerPoint presentation as handouts.
- For the speaker’s notes, you will need to print out the PowerPoint presentation in notes format.
- This Program in a Box includes exercises that require the participants to work in pairs. Set-up the room such that participants will be able to speak with each other.
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The Woman-to-Woman Voter Turnout Manual addresses the following topics:
Voter Turnout Techniques
Women who don’t already have the voting habit must be urged to vote through a personal appeal. The more personal the contact with a voter, the more likely she is to vote. The manual reviews the most effect voter turnout campaign techniques.
She Who Fails to Plan Plans to Fail
To run a successful campaign, you must have a plan. Create a time line that leads up to Election Day. Set reasonable goals, monitor your progress, and adjust your goals as you go.
Recruiting Volunteers
This chapter helps you calculate the number of volunteers you will need, gives recruiting tips, and suggests roles that volunteers can fill.
Building Coalitions
By working together, organizations avoid duplicating efforts and pool resources, volunteers, and expertise. The manual provides suggestions for building effective coalitions and keeping members motivated.
Targeting
If you focus your efforts and resources on the women who need encouragement and who are also most likely to respond, your efforts will have the maximum possible effect. Learn techniques to identify women in your community who may need encouragement to vote.
Building Relationships With Targets
Sustained, repeated contact and building both peer-to-peer relationships and a relationship between your branch and drop-off voters are the most effective ways to encourage regular voting.
Registering Voters
U.S. Census data show that women who are registered to vote are more likely than men to vote. The manual provides some easy steps to running a successful voter registration campaign.
Voter Education: Voter Guides
AAUW voter guides provide nonpartisan information about candidate positions on AAUW priority issues. Because issues important to women and families are typically at stake in elections, it is vital that women go to the polls knowing where the candidates stand.
- Downloadable Voter Guides [ House | Senate ] are available for members to create quick side-by-side references of each candidate on major issues. (members only)
- The AAUW Congressional Voting Record provides information about elected federal legislators through the votes they cast on AAUW issues (PDF).
Voter Education: Issue and Candidate Forums
Community forums allow women voters to learn the candidates’ positions, provide candidates with an opportunity to express their positions on AAUW issues, and let candidates know that AAUW issues are important to voters.
Public Relations
Although using print and broadcast media won’t necessarily turn out voters, earning exposure in your community’s newspaper, radio, and television brings deserved attention to your efforts.
Staying out of Trouble — AAUW Policies
Election activities carried out in AAUW’s name must be conducted within the guidelines set out in AAUW policies. The manual reviews relevant AAUW policies regarding election activities.
Download the free Adobe Reader to view the PDF documents.
