Research Repository

*** Door to door canvassing increases turnout when canvassers are able to reach voters. Contacting eligible voters is difficult. Multiple visits help but each successive visit is less likely to […]

** In door to door canvassing to get out the vote (as opposed to persuasion, see that section), the message does not seem to matter as much as we might […]

** Door to door may boost the turnout of voters in a household other than the person to whom the canvasser spoke. It often happens that the person who answers […]

*** Canvassing is effective even in uncompetitive elections. “It appears that canvassers can successfully motivate citizens to participate in the voting process even when the election seems to have few […]

*** Leaflets and door hangers have a marginal to no effect on voter turnout. Green and Gerber (2023) emphasize that this is based on many strong studies with diverse voter […]

** Signage along roads or on private property has a marginal to no effect on voter turnout.  The authors note that most down-ballot campaigns use signs for different purposes, primarily […]

**“Billboards appear to mobilize voters living in the immediate vicinity,” with larger impact in low-salience elections than high-salience elections, as with other intervention methods in general. (Green & Gerber, 2023) […]

*** “Direct mail that merely reminds voters of an upcoming election has no effect on voter turnout. . . . This type of mailer is sometimes [actually] used as a […]

*** GOTV mail that is non-partisan and emphasizes civic duty or the importance of making one’s voice heard has a marginal effect on turnout (0.4% on average in good studies). […]

*** Social pressure messages (such as pointing out that whether individuals vote is a public record) increase the effect of civic-duty GOTV mailings by between 1 and 2 percent. However, […]

** The minimal effect of advocacy mailings has been consistent for both positive and negative messages. (Green & Gerber, 2023) (Loewenstein, J.)

** Expensively produced GOTV mail or voter guides have a marginal effect. (Green & Gerber, 2023) (Loewenstein, J.)

** Bilingual mailings are no more effective than those in English only. (Green & Gerber, 2023) (Loewenstein, J.)

*** Mail sent by an official source, such as a supervisor of elections, has about double the effect. (Green & Gerber, 2023) (Loewenstein, J.)

*** There is no evidence for synergy between mail and other GOTV tactics. (Green & Gerber, 2023) (Loewenstein, J.)

*** “Robocalls have a weak effect on voter turnout,” in the range of 1 voter per 400 voters in studies reviewed involving 1 million voters. (Green & Gerber, 2023) (Loewenstein, […]

*** Volunteer phonebanks vary in effectiveness.  On average turnout increased by 1 vote for every 36 completed calls. (Green & Gerber, 2023) (Loewenstein, J.)

*** Live calls by professional phonebanks increase turnout a bit. High quality, thus higher cost calls (i.e., by well trained staff who can engage people), are more effective, although the […]

** The effectiveness of professional phone banks has little to do with the reasons for voting given in the scripts. (Green & Gerber, 2023) (Loewenstein, J., Newby, R.)

** Volunteer phone banks with short scripts (e.g. a reminder that there is an upcoming election) are not as effective as those that engage a person. (Green & Gerber, 2023) […]

** Volunteer phone banks that re-contact people who expressed an intention to vote in an earlier call boost the effectiveness of a calling campaign. (Green & Gerber, 2023) (Loewenstein, J.)

*** Text messages from public officials or grassroots organizations increase turnout on average by 0.29% or about 1 vote per 345 targeted phone numbers.  Some studies used multiple texts.  Texts […]

*** Email that encourages voting has negligible effects on voter registration. (Green & Gerber, 2023) (Loewenstein, J.)

*** Email messages of many sorts (partisan, non-partisan, & advocacy) do not increase turnout. (Green & Gerber, 2023) (Loewenstein, J.)

** Social media information campaigns that consist of banner ads or “I voted” widgets do not increase turnout. Adding news about which of a person’s friends have voted increases turnout […]

** Ads on social media platforms such as Facebook are not effective. (Green & Gerber, 2023) (Loewenstein, J.)

There are no conclusive studies on the effectiveness of mass media campaigns to get out the vote. There are few studies and they have been inconclusive. (Green & Gerber, 2023) […]

** Election day festivals increase turnout if the weather is good. The average effect is 1%. (Green & Gerber, 2023) (Loewenstein, J.)

*** Registering the unregistered increases turnout by 1 vote per 3 new registrations.  This effect varies remarkably across elections and socioeconomic status.  Registration in advance of presidential elections is the […]

*** Personal appeals along with distribution and collection of registration forms are effective.  This is based on studies in classrooms (of high school seniors and college students) and in neighborhoods.  […]

*** Mailings by state agencies increase registration in both midterm and presidential election years, with presidential having the larger effect. (Green & Gerber, 2023) (Loewenstein, J., Newby, R.)

*** Mass email does not increase voter registration. (Green & Gerber, 2023) (Loewenstein, J.)

** Generic mailings, automated calls, and web ads do not increase registration.(Green & Gerber, 2023) (Loewenstein, J.)

** Mailing registration forms with instructions to those turning 18, or to people who have recently moved, increases registration.  The effect is about 1 new registrant per 66 mailings.  (Green […]

Handwritten postcards sent as “chasers” after voter registration materials can have a significant positive impact on the odds that someone would return their materials (12% to 20% higher in different […]

Asking people whether they will vote or by what method they will vote; asking them to make a plan to vote; and asking them why voting is important to them, […]

Asking people to pledge to vote along with reminding them of their pledge closer to the election does seem to have an effect.  (Green & Gerber, 2019) (Loewenstein, J.)

Social pressure measures are effective, however, extreme measures can backfire.  A mailer citing neighbor’s specific voting history resulted in multiple complaints to the organization that sent the mailers and attracted […]

A so-called “self mailer,” showing recent household voting behavior, had a significant but varying effect on turnout in 7 studies.  The effect was higher in lower salience elections.  An example […]

Gratitude mailers have a smaller positive effect.  The content did not seem to matter much.  For example, praise for being concerned about public affairs was as effective as thanking someone […]

** Wording that taps into people’s socially positive sense of self can impact voter turnout. More people turned out to vote if they had been asked on a survey, “How […]

Several organizations collaborated to provide funds for 10 unique projects, which were presented on 12/7/21. These slide decks from those presentations provide the main ideas and findings, though details of […]