How to Win an Election by Chasing Vote by Mail Ballots

by Contributing Author | Candidate Advice

Chasing Vote By Mail ballots wins elections.

Running a good chase program is like GOTV (Get Out The Vote) every day of the month running up and through Election Day.

A good Vote By Mail Chase program requires commitment, tenacity, organization, and just plain old hard work.

All winning campaigns always have a good VBM chase program in place.

It sounds complicated but it really isn’t and can mean winning or losing on election day.

What is a Vote By Mail Chase?

A Vote By Mail (VBM) Chase is literally chasing ballots, or more exactly, chasing voters and making sure they mail in their ballots.

This all GOTV all the Time. It is like chasing your tail (or maybe the dragon).

With VBM Chase, you are constantly monitoring returned ballots of your identified supporters.

You keep after those voters with your winning message, reminding them to turn in their ballots, until they do indeed get them in.

Here are the basics for setting up a winning chase program.

An effective VBM Chase requires determining your targeted universe early.

As discussed in other articles, polling is essential to determine who you may even have a chance at getting to vote for you.

If you are not polling or at least conducting an automated poll, you will be at a disadvantage.

Figure out the issues and what turns voters on early and build your message around it.

Then make sure the voters know your message long before the first ballots are mailed to voters.

For VBM Chase to work you must know who the early voters actually are.

Your voter data provider should be able to give you this information.

They should be tagged in your voter file or system or you should get a list.

However you get it or manage it, this is essential.

If you do not know exactly who is a PERMANENT mail-in voter and who has REQUESTED a mail-in ballot or who ALWAYS votes before Election Day, you won’t be able to run a VBM chase program.