Messaging and Best Practices for GOTV and Vote-By-Mail (2026)

UPDATED FOR 2026: Get-out-the-vote (GOTV) is about mobilizing supporters with the practical information they need to cast their ballot. Effective programs are targeted, timely, and use social cues for accountability. We need to build up our audience’s habit of going to the polls or mailing in their ballots to protect our freedoms, our families, and our futures.

This year, getting out the vote is only part of our mission. With some forces already installing their anti-voter agenda, it’s critical we start organizing and preparing direct actions now to demand “Hands Off Our Vote.” Click here to learn more about #HandsOffOurVote, a new narrative to empower and mobilize our base, protect our vote, and demand free and democratic elections.

The principles in this guide — drawn from years of research from We Make The Future, Analyst Institute, and ASO Communications and updated for 2026 — form basic messaging recommendations and best practices for GOTV and vote-by-mail efforts.

Many of the recommendations we give here only apply to GOTV, not to broader persuasion or narrative work. Use these recommendations when communicating with base voters during the two weeks before Election Day or in the lead-up to an absentee/early voting window.

The research cited in this guide is confidential. Please do not distribute any content externally. If others could benefit from this information, share the webpage link with them or invite them to join the Analyst Group to access more research and program recommendations.