The Activist for Activists. Author of Make a Difference with Mental Health Activism and The Happy Activist: Journey the 5-Step Activism Path to Focus Your Passion and Change the World. Teacher, Psychologist, Environmental Activist, Animal Lover.
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Last Updated on August 22, 2025
There are many ways to get out the vote, including canvassing.
In What Gets in the Way of Voter Turnout, I discuss the barriers to free elections. In this post, I cover what you can do to make a difference in an election. Because leadership is important.
Barriers such as voter deregistration and gerrymandering impact voter turnout. But voter apathy, obstacles, and a lack of education also impact it.
“Votes count, one at a time, and the apathy syndrome is best overcome by the philosophy that, if someone else does not vote in an election, the person who does Vote has more influence. When only half the eligible voters go to the polls for an election, those who do Vote have doubled their power.” – Pauline Schneider
But there are ways we can help overcome these barriers.
Canvassing
Canvassing is the primary tool for getting people registered and to the polls. It is a useful technique because of social connection. People are more likely to listen to you once you make a connection.
Traditional canvassing means going door-to-door and discussing voting and your candidate. Joining up with an existing group for your candidate is the best place to start. They have resources to understand the best homes to target and how to best conduct the conversation.
Campaigns may do phone banks instead of face-to-face contacts. For example, Indivisible will sign you up to phone bank and provide you with training and support.
When you connect with someone, here are the ways you can help:
- Help them set a goal and identify how and when they will vote.
- Make sure they are registered and register them if they are not.
- Explain how to vote absentee or early if that is their preference.
- Provide information about their precinct location.
- Help older voters avoid being purged.
- Ask if they need help getting to the polls.
- Clarify how often voter registration information needs to be updated.
- Describe what happens to people’s votes.
- Clarify what is needed for identification to vote.
- Help people get on the permanent absentee list if they have that need.
Canvassing is significant and has made a difference in elections.
Get Out The Vote Methods
Canvassing isn’t for everyone. I encourage you to clarify what skills you bring to activism. Using these skills means you’ll be more effective and motivated. So, consider these other ways you might match your skills and make a difference in this election.
My local chapter of the League of Women Voters held a workshop to come up with ideas to get out the vote. With some creative prompts and brainstorming, we generated an awesome list of ways to improve voting percentages. They provided me with the list as inspiration for this post.
Advocacy
Canvassing is a form of advocacy, but there are other ways to educate voters. Helping people understand the importance of voting and how to do it can be done differently from face-to-face canvassing. Get creative!
- Reach out to first-time voters you know and see if they need help. Voting for the first time can be scary.
- Invite friends to a Get Out The Vote gathering.
- Put signs in your yard. Put signs on your car.
- Get the local high school to use the Jumbotron to remind people to vote.
- Help nonprofit volunteers give out information.
- Host an event and invite a candidate to speak.
- Invite a local celebrity to speak about the candidate or getting out the vote.
Artistic Activism
Artistic activism means using drawing, writing, theater, crafting, and other arts to promote your cause. For example, Head Count stages concerts and runs voter registrations there. Here are ideas to spark your artistic creativity:
- Make masks for people who will vote in person.
- Create buttons and stickers.
- Have a neighborhood parade, highlighting the importance of voting.
- Host a ‘make a yard sign’ party.
- Write a book about voting. Make a comic book or graphic novel about voting.
- Create signs to place in your community.
- Write a letter to the editor.
- Write postcards to citizens to provide information and encourage them to vote. (I’m doing this one.)
Movement Support
Movement support means being there to handle administrative and other support tasks for people on the front lines. Think about the ways you can be there for others.
- Offer to drive people to the polls.
- Provide personal protective equipment to in-person voters.
- If you are a teacher, help your school register students who turn 18. And give extra credit for voting!
- Drum up a competition between companies or counties. Tap into citizen pride to improve turnout.
- If you are a business person, put up signs to encourage voting. Add voting messages to cash receipts, baskets, carts, and even in the bathrooms.
- Help out-of-state students understand how to vote.
- Provide childcare so parents can vote.
- Sign up to be a poll worker at Power The Polls to keep polling places open and staffed.
- Help people make sure they know how to navigate state identification laws.
Slacktivism
Slacktivism is a cross of the words slacker and activism, but the word slacker doesn’t have to imply that it doesn’t work or isn’t important. These activism methods can be effective.
You might be swamped, but here are some ways you can help get out the vote.
- Use your social media platforms to get out the vote.
- Give a shout-out to companies and workplaces that give time off for voting. Or companies like Old Navy, which encourage their employees to be poll workers and pay them.
- Sign petitions, such as those on the ACLU site.
- Protest any barriers to fair voting.
Altruism
Donate to organizations that are working to improve voter turnout. Here is a sampling:
- Your local League of Women Voters (LWV) chapter.
- Vote.org
- American Civil Liberties Union
- Spread the Vote
- Common Cause focuses on many issues related to getting out the vote.
- Fair Fight
- The Brennan Center has toolkits for each state.
- Indivisible
- Voto Latino
Are you Ready to Knock Down Some Barriers and Get Out The Vote?
Don’t wait. Whether it is traditional methods like canvassing or an idea from this post that motivates you, every bit helps.
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