{"id":449,"date":"2015-06-26T15:05:40","date_gmt":"2015-06-26T13:05:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.polyas.de\/blog\/?p=449"},"modified":"2015-06-25T15:07:38","modified_gmt":"2015-06-25T13:07:38","slug":"10-tips-to-increase-voter-participation-6-start-polls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.polyas.de\/blog\/en\/increasing-voter-turnout\/10-tips-to-increase-voter-participation-6-start-polls","title":{"rendered":"10 Tips to Increase Voter Participation: #6 Start polls"},"content":{"rendered":"

The voting period has already started and you want to get voters on board who haven’t yet cast their ballots? But circular emails and letters too often end up in the (digital) wastebasket. One reason for this is that everything you are writing is mostly repetitive. The voters already know that the election is going on, and they also know what it is about.<\/p>\n

One trick is to promote interaction: When an addressee has to take action themselves during an election, the step to casting their vote is quicker. One popular technique to achieve this is polls. Practical side-effect: You become more acquainted with the voters.<\/p>\n

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“The questions are what arise
\nfrom what is left.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u2013 Erich K\u00e4stner, German writer \u2013<\/p>\n

Using questionnaires during an election<\/strong><\/p>\n

Election predictions inform you of the possible outcome in advance. Voters are called and asked who or what they wish to vote for, or have already voted for. The results of these opinion polls serve, among other things, a specific purpose – namely motivating non-voters to cast their ballots during the final stretch of the election.<\/p>\n

Election research has yielded a few theories for this already. For instance, there is the mobilisation hypothesis<\/strong>, which states that a predicted close election result leads to high voter participation. There is also the bandwagon effect<\/strong>: Voters cannot decide or are too little informed, and simply join the majority upon looking at the voting predictions. The opposite of this, i.e. relating with the minority opinion, is called the underdog effect<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Why polls can motivate your voters<\/strong><\/p>\n

Cleverly structured polls activate dynamics. Of course this does not work solely with election predictions – which can also be truly persuasive and involve a lot of effort. Polls as a motivational tool can still be useful, however, for participation alone mobilises: When a voter actively answers questions about the election, they are already “in the middle of it instead of simply there”. The path to casting their ballot has been paved.<\/p>\n

Even non-voters are integrated into the voting process through this rather indirect manner.<\/p>\n

When is the right time for a poll?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The best time for a poll is in the middle of the voting period. For instance, create a circular email with a brief reminder in the greeting that participating in the election is still only possible for a certain amount of time. In closing, explain that answering the poll is important to optimise upcoming election processes. Note that the poll will only take a little amount of time.<\/p>\n

The questions you ask are at your personal discretion. Ask yourself beforehand what exactly you would like to learn, and define a goal for yourself.<\/p>\n

Tips for creating a poll<\/strong><\/p>\n

Questions about the organisation of the election are a good option; for one everybody is available to answer these quickly. Secondly, you learn quite a lot about the voting behaviour of the voters and can optimise your next vote accordingly.<\/p>\n

Possible questions:<\/p>\n