Mobilizing Nations

Men dancing at a powwow.

General Election Field Guide

What You’ll Find in This Toolkit

Quick Planning Tips

Set a goal for how many new voters you want to register or how many people you want to turn out to vote. Setting a realistic goal helps you plan at the appropriate scale for the size of your community, and gives you a benchmark for understanding when you may need to pivot or consider new strategies to help meet your goal. 

#1

Think backwards. Start your planning at election day (Nov. 5), and then map out what you need to do between now and then to meet your goals.

#2

Build on what’s already in motion. Rather than trying to build lots of events from scratch, find a Tribal community calendar that details activities from now until Nov. 5 for opportunities that you can plug into to get community members registered to vote or help them build a plan to vote.

#3

Every native vote counts

Suggested Planning Calendar

November

    • First Tuesday in November - Election Day!

    • Monitor social media posts for GOTV content

    • Review target lists to see who has voted and do outreach to those who have not voted.

    • Final tabling and reminder to vote at key community locations

October

    • Post social media content

    • Conduct GOTV efforts like phone calls, door knocking, and friend to friend texting voting information

    • Debrief volunteers to learn of adjustments that need to be made on GOTV efforts

    • Review target lists to see who has voted and do outreach to those who have not voted.

    • Monitor social media posts for GOTV content

    • Review target lists to see who has voted and do outreach to those who have not voted.

    • Post social media content

    • Conduct GOTV efforts

    • Debrief volunteers to learn of adjustments that need to be made

    • Host a voting or ballot party, ideally in coordination with a community sponsored event

    • Monitor social media posts for GOTV content

    • Ballots mailed out in WA start of 18 day voting period

    • Continue to create packets for GOTV volunteer runners

    • Train volunteers on how to conduct GOTV phone calls, door knocking, and friend to friend texting

    • Launch GOTV!!!

    • Attend tabling events in your community

    • Print GOTV scripts

    • Print voter outreach handouts

    • Begin creating packets for GOTV volunteers

    • Confirm locations for GOTV launch and phone banks locations

    • Send social media contact to account holders

    • Begin recruiting volunteers

    • Complete voter outreach handout sheet

    • Complete and schedule GOTV social media content

    • Identify influential social media account owners asking about posting content

    • Set your goals for Get Out the Vote efforts

    • Identify the potential voter contact region, include both addresses and phone numbers, if you can

    • Identify how you’ll contact voters (Phone, Text, In-person)

    • Create a list of capable volunteer prospects.

    • Determine if any formal permission from the Tribe is necessary for GOTV Activities

    • Start your events calendar for attendance throughout GOTV season.

    • Reach out to Tribal leaders for support for GOTV

    • Complete drafting GOTV script for doors and phones

    • Review upcoming voting deadlines (registration, mail-in).

    • Attend tabling events in your community

    • Begin planning your voting or ballot party, confirm a date, time, location and who you will collaborate with

Tips for Success

1. Make sure you know the key rules in your state and county for registering voters

2. Request data on voter registration from county election officer to find out any key deadlines, where to submit voter registration cards as examples 

3. Purchase a list of registered voters at the election office to help determine who is currently registered in your Tribe to help develop an outreach strategy for those who are not.

4. Get voter registration cards at at the county election office.

Election Protection

Know Your Rights

It is essential to know the obstacles frequently placed on Native people when seeking to engage in voting. According to Native American Right Fund’s 2020 report, Obstacles at Every Turn: Barriers to Political Participation Faced By Native American Voters, Native voters face more than 35 unique barriers, from registration to the act of voting itself.

Exercise your rights as a voter

  • Register to vote. Visit your Secretary of State website for more information on how to vote or use a service such as RockTheVote.org to help you get registered.

  • Already registered? Confirm that you are registered with your current address and find out where your polling place will be. Visit your Secretary of State website for more information on where you should vote.

  • If you encounter problems during voting, report them. Contact the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law non-partisan toll-free hotline (866-OUR-VOTE), which is available now through election day. Report the problems to the Native American Voting Rights Coalitions at vote@narf.org.

Help your community exercise their rights

  • Contact your Tribal council and request that they create Tribal voter guides.

  • Hold an election day party near polling locations. Be sure to invite voters and non-voters because it is illegal to pay people to vote!

  • Help get people to the ballot box. If you have the resources, provide rides/shuttles to the polls.

  • Read up so you can help spread trustworthy information. Check out the resources available from NativeVote.org.

Voter Registration Script

Use the National Congress of American Indian’s (NCAI) sample script to guide your conversation about voter registration. Be sure to tailor it to your community.

Pledge to Vote Card

Download the following Pledge to Vote card for print or the digital version to distribute during your voter registration drive efforts! People who pledge to vote and make a plan are more likely to show up and cast their votes on Election Day.

Every Native Vote Counts.

Digital Assets

Your social media channels are spaces to drum up voter registration, too! Feel free to download these graphics and copy/paste the draft captions on your own channels, or to use these as inspiration for your own content.

Post #1 - Get Registered

Social Media Caption

We honor our ancestors by continuing to cultivate voting as good medicine. 

JOIN US—check your voter registration status, and register to vote if you aren’t already! It takes just two minutes: https://vote.org

Post #2 - Pledge to Vote

Social Media Caption

The Native Vote’s power is rooted in our peoples’ resilience, relationships, and centuries of hard-won victories and untold stories.

Let’s make 2024 our biggest year yet for Native voters’ turn-out. Re-share this post to show your friends and family you’re pledging to vote, and you need them to join, too!

Resources