voter turnout
Post on 25-Jan-2017
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Voter turnout@jowaltersJo Walters
Communications ManagerUniversity of Sussex Students’ Union
Me and Sussex Communications ManagerFull-time Officer (a long time ago)
Communications team of 4
14,000 membersCampus universityTwo elections per yearReferenda 3 times per year
2011Turnout typically around 25% in our Full-time Officer elections
University approaching its 50th anniversary so our President decided we should aim for 50% turnout
2011Turnout typically around 25% in our Full-time Officer elections
University approaching its 50th anniversary so our President decided we should aim for 50% turnoutHa ha ha
ha
2014We hit 50% (actually 49 point something but we’re amongst friends so I’m rounding up) in turnout across our referenda and elections
2014We hit 50% (actually 49 point something but we’re amongst friends so I’m rounding up) in turnout across our referenda and elections
But how
awkward confession
Awkward confessionI don’t know how we did this.
Awkward confessionI don’t know how we did this.
I know what we tried but don’t know exactly what made the difference.This presentation is therefore a list of things to try and some theory.
Some theory
Some theoryAlternative title for this bit:Books Jo thinks you should read
More candidates more voters
FunnelAll
students
Heard about roles/voting
Thought about roles/voting
Nominated themselves
/voted
What can you do at each level to increase progression to the next?
What might the barriers be?
Better candidates more voters
Training support
What information can you give to candidates? About students? About the Union? About communicating?
What support can you give candidates? Before they nominate
themselves? Planning their campaign? During their campaign? After voting closes
Motivation
Appeal to broader values, e.g. benefit to students, contributing to society, giving something back, mastery, purpose, citizenship, collectivism
Avoid self-focused values, e.g. boost your CV, you’ll get paid, your career, your voice, you’ll (personally) benefit/miss out
For your reading list…
Drive: The surprising truth about what motivates us by Daniel H. Pink
Also go to James Robertson’s session on talking to students like they’re selfish
AIDAMarketing theory for your communications:
ATTENTION – get someone’s attention
INTEREST – get their interest
DESIRE – make them want to do something
ACTION – give them the opportunity to do something
Make it ordinaryVoting? Oh yeah everyone does that. It’s what people here do.
ViralWord of mouth is helped by: Social currency – we share things that make us look good Triggers – what prompts me to talk about it? Emotion – high arousal, e.g. awe, anger, excitement Public – make the private public Practical value – news you can use Stories – information travels through narratives
Read Contagious: How to build word of mouth in the digital age by Jonah Berger
Stuff we did
Stupid goalThe 50% thing got a lot of people invigorated
Apparently we like a challenge!
Spent money• Banners and signs for lampposts to cover campus• Hired Election Ambassadors to promote the elections• Bought tablets to enable mobile voting• Upgraded our voting system to make mobile voting easier• Bought ‘vote now’ t-shirts for all staff
Involved staff• Elections planning sessions open to all• Got people excited about our 50% turnout challenge• Ensured everyone understood the elections and referenda• Got University staff on board, particularly for Student Rep elections
Tell people• All staff are encouraged to tell people to nominate themselves in the
elections. This personal connection is really powerful• Include information about elected officers and elections in all news
stories featuring current officers
All year long• We think about and prepare for elections all year long• Don’t focus on the nomination period, some people have planned this
years in advance• Tell people to nominate themselves all year and ensure information is
available for anyone who is interested• Keep a mailing list of potential candidates and update them
Social proof• Only where it sounded impressive and like everyone was doing
something• Plot voters onto a map (use BatchGeo) – ‘students from all over the
world are voting’• Use real-time statistics and screenshot them for social media• ‘I voted in the elections’ social media shares and stickers
Busted myths• It isn’t a popularity contest• Elected officers do have an impact• You don’t have to be a certain kind of person to nominate yourself
Ask your students why they don’t vote then bust the myths
Competition
• Used voting stats graphs to compare schools• Told students who turnout in their school compared to previous year
Incentives
• I don’t think you should incentivise voting. An incentive implies the thing is not inherently desirable (see ‘Drive’ by Daniel H. Pink)
• We did offer a chance for people to allocate funding to one of four projects when they voted
2018Our new goal is to get to 75% turnout by the end of 2017/18
2018Our new goal is to get to 75% turnout by the end of 2017/18
Eek
Next time• Making the impact of elected officers even more visible including
where they’ve made decisions to show the impact of these and the alternatives
QuestionsWhat other things have worked for you?
Feel free to get in touch – jo.w@sussexstudent.com or @jowalters
Thanks for listening
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