2016 VOTING INFORMATION-GET OUT THE VOTE
GOALS & PLAN
as of 21 Feb 20163 May 2016
Providing information to U.S. voters abroad, helping them to register to vote and request ballots, and getting out the vote for Democratic candidates is the core work of Democrats Abroad. Our efforts are most critically important in Presidential elections years like 2016, and our results will make the difference in states or races where the election is close.
2016 VI-GOTV Committee Goals:
The Voting Information-Get Out the Vote (VI-GOTV) Committee will reach out to members of Democrats Abroad, other Democratic overseas voters and to all Americans living abroad to foster their right to vote and to urge them to vote for Democrats.
The VI-GOTV Committee will:
- Reach out to all Americans living abroad to urge them to vote
- Help Americans living abroad to register (or renew registration) to vote
- Help Americans living abroad to request their ballots for the upcoming 2016 federal elections and for state primaries held after the DA Global Presidential Primary
- Help Americans living abroad to cast their ballots on time
- Urge Americans living abroad to vote for the Democratic nominees
The VI-GOTV Committee will intensify efforts to reach Democratic voters from the 2016 battleground states. We will collaborate with and support local VI-GOTV Coordinators and Country Committee (CC) leaders in their efforts to reach overseas Democratic voters by:
- Providing resource materials and training
- Collecting and sharing best practices
- Helping set targets and tracking progress towards targets
- Helping to reach voters where CCs need help
- Helping to reach voters where there are no CCs
- Promoting the use of VFA.org
- Tracking metrics when DA assists voters using other VR tools or methods
- Serving as liaison to the FVAP
- Serving as liaison to the State Department Overseas Voting Office
- Serving as liaison to local election officials
- Collaborating with state Democratic parties in the battleground states
2016 VI-GOTV Plan:
The global VI-GOTV Committee provides the following Draft 2016 Plan .docfor ExCom and Country Committee officers to review:
- What the VI-GOTV Committee will do
- What we expect of Country Committee (CC) and Chapter leaders
- The 2016 VI-GOTV Calendar
- The VI-GOTV Team
- Action items for the VI-GOTV Committee
- Develop and provide the 2016 calendar of Voter Action Events
- Develop and distribute list of state deadlines for voter registration, ballot requests, and ballot submission
- Answer voter questions on the DA and VFA help lines
- See that VFA.org is kept current
- Send state-specific email alerts for primaries after the GPP to DA members
- Send DA members state-specific email alerts for general election
- Support CC VI-GOTV Coordinators
- answer questions
- provide training on how to use VFA, plan phonebanking and study abroad outreach, and organize VI-GOTV events
- develop and post resource documents in the wiki
- collect and share best practices
- help set phonebanking targets and track progress
- alert CCs to battleground states and key races
- Pull VFA statistics
- Report VFA stats and phonebanking progress
- Reach out to DA members not in CCs, including by phone
- Organize global phonebanking team to help CCs where needed
- Contact study abroad umbrella organizations to provide them with nonpartisan VI to be forwarded to students
- Work with DA Communications Committee on VI-GOTV outreach to non-members
- Expand the Key Races Project
- collaborate with State Parties in battleground/key states
- obtain, cull and use state/county/township voter lists
- co-produce and send joint emails, letters, social media messages
- produce candidate/VFA.org videos
- help to reach out to candidates to schedule WebEx "town halls"
- make phonebanking-in-the-US opportunities available to interested DA volunteers in the week(s) before the November 8 elections
- Act as liaisons with the FVAP, State Dept American Citizens Services Voting
Office and with state and county and local voting officials
- Action items for CC (and Chapter) leaders, especially VI-GOTV Coordinators
- Establish VI-GOTV as a CC priority in 2016
- If not already done, name a VI-GOTV Coordinator and send the contact information to Marc Rodriguez (marc@democratsabroad.org)________
- Strongly encourage the use of www.VoteFromAbroad.org
- Track numbers of voters helped with tools other than VFA.org
- Attempt to phonebank all of your members at least once, or at least those members who vote in battleground states and key races
- Track your phonebanking progress and report periodically (simple stats: how many calls made, how many reached, etc.)
- Approach all study abroad programs in your CC or chapter to offer VI
- Make special efforts to GOTV in the battleground states/key races
- Organize VI-GOTV events, such as voter registration drives
- Reach out to the American community beyond your membership to encourage them to vote and to vote for Democratic candidates
- The 2016 VI-GOTV Calendar
See separate document
4. The VI-GOTV Committee
Heidi Burch (Canada) - co-chair
Michelle Taube (Denmark) - co-chair
Becca Young (Morocco)
Bill Hammond (Argentina)
Christina Skovsgaard (Norway)
Cortnie Shupe (Germany)
Frank Missell (Brazil)
Jackie Jeter (Ireland)
Katie Solon (Germany)
Kellye McIntosh (Czech Republic)
Marc Rodriguez (US)
Mary Ann Balko-Koch (Austria)
Cortnie Shupe (Germany)Reavis Hilz-Ward (Germany)
Rebecca Glazer
Robin Myers (France)
Suchi Vatsa Jensen (Denmark)
Christina Skovsgaard (Norway)
Frank Missell? (Brazil)
Jackie Jeeter? (Ireland)
Robin Myers? (France)
Kellye McIntosh? (Czech Republic)
Reavis H-W?
KOJ ???
CB ?
RB ?
Will Bakker (Luxembourg)
Katie Solon (Germany)Will Bakker (Luxembourg)