Vote Forward (sometimes stylized Vote FWD or VoteFWD) is a Democratic-aligned voter registration and mobilization PAC (political action committee). The PAC provides template letters for individuals to complete, sign, and send urging voter participation from unlikely registered voters to increase Democratic voter turnout.
Vote Forward is based on a two-part strategy to promote voting by people who tend not to participate in mid-term elections. Vote Forward allows individuals to sign up to send “please vote” letters to unlikely registered voters in key swing districts for Democratic candidates. Vote Forward receives its mailing lists for districts from state election boards, which provide voter rolls and voting histories to political organizations and the public in the interest of electoral systems transparency. Because people will respond positively to being encouraged to vote; second, that personal, hand-addressed letters will get people’s attention because they’re different from the usual campaign literature.
When you join Vote Forward, you’re assigned to a toss-up Congressional District relatively nearby. Then you’re offered the option of writing to 5 or 25 intermittent voters in that district. The program then generates letters for you to download and print, supplying you with the voters’ names and addresses. There are only a few blank sections for you to fill in by hand: the name of the voter; the reason you are a regular voter; and your signature.
Vote Forward began in 2017 with the Alabama Senate special election that Doug Jones won. The Analyst Institute conducted a study after the election, and found these letters bumped voter turnout by about 3%. So for every 100 letters someone wrote, 3 more people went to the polls who would not have otherwise cast a ballot. Vote Forward was designed as an online platform to increase Democratic voter turnout for the 2018 midterm elections.
It’s easy to take part, though you do need to supply a few items yourself. You’ll need a printer and a safe space to set aside your completed letters until it’s time to mail them. You’ll also need to contribute envelopes and postage for every letter you complete.
One more piece of information: This activity is so popular, there is a bit of a bottleneck for authorizing your account after you sign up. (Nowadays, one can’t simply assume that everyone seeking to take part has good intentions, so there is a screening process.) The Vote Forward crew is working to increase the rate of account approval, and also striving to ensure fast answers to user-interface questions. You should be good to go about 24 hours after your initial sign-up.
