Part One: Data Driven Voter Registration with Civitech
Are we getting voter registration right?
At 92 County Plan, our goal is to provide valuable insights into why Indiana and many communities across the country are experiencing voter apathy. We also want to offer opportunities for meaningful change. With new leadership elected in Indiana, it's essential to remember that strong leadership relies on a dedicated team - and we're that team on the ground! 😉
Let's work together to create positive change in our communities. We have the power to make that happen!
As I mentioned in our first issue, as Democrats, we need to engage our base and bring others who share our values into our universe. We often refer to this universe as all the voters a campaign aims to identify, persuade, and mobilize. The first step in bringing a voter into a campaign's universe is ensuring they're registered to vote. Once registered, that information becomes public and can be accessed through the Secretary of State via the voter file.
Now, let's put on our marketing hats! There are many parallels between a voter's journey to deciding who to vote for and a customer's journey to purchasing a product or service. The concept of a customer journey has been around for over 100 years, but what's changed is how marketers reach customers - and this applies to reaching voters as well. As decision-making happens, each touchpoint with the consumer (or voter) requires a different approach and message. Whether it's a customer making a purchase or a voter supporting a candidate, that decision goes through a process.
Now, let's dive deeper into the voter's journey. As we can see from the graphic below, it takes more effort to convert a registered voter into a supporter for one candidate over another. This is where our work comes in - supporting voters in their decision-making process and bringing them into our Democratic universe. Currently, voters are showing up at protests, calling their representatives both state and national, and vocally calling for elected officials to fight for democracy. Voters want elected officials who will fight for them. This shift presents an opportunity for future candidates to demonstrate their commitment to fighting for their community on issues that matter most. Effective messaging is key to making this happen.
In the marketing world, we know that touching base with customers multiple times and educating them about a product or service is crucial. Similarly, in grassroots organizing, repeated interactions with voters and educating them on the issues are vital to our success. By understanding the voter's journey and meeting them where they are, we can build trust, provide value, and ultimately bring more people into our Democratic universe. We have an opportunity for us to make a real difference in our communities!
Voter Registration: The First Point of Entry into the Funnel
The question we set out to examine during the 2024 election cycle was: Are we getting voter registration right, especially in a voter-suppressed state like Indiana? In the last election cycle, we collaborated with nine candidates across the state to gain a deeper understanding of how to conduct data-driven voter registration programs.
Why Data Drive Voter Registration?
A data-driven approach is crucial because it allows us to track potential unregistered Democrats (PUDs) over multiple contacts, increasing a campaign's chances of bringing them into their universe and starting the persuasion journey down the voter funnel. By leveraging data, we can optimize our efforts and make more informed decisions about how to engage with voters.
NOTE ON DATA:
Due to the later reporting from the Indiana Secretary of State, I will be breaking this analysis down into two parts.
✅ One: did the targeted potential unregistered democrat (PUD) register and
✅ Two: Did the newly registered voter take action and vote?
Currently, we have the data to answer the first question. Let’s get into it.
Establish Goals set by previous successfully run Civitech Voter Registration Programs.
Register 20% of contacted potential unregistered Democrats in each district.
Move 80% of newly registered voters to the polls in each district.
Identifying Potential Unregistered Democrats (PUDs)
Using Target Smart Movers data, unregistered opt-in college students and unregistered Public Information Records (PIR) to identify potential unregistered Democrats (PUDs) in nine Indiana House Districts. These districts were strategically selected not to single out other candidates but rather to provide a controlled environment for us to:
Track learnings.
Understand the return on investment.
Determine if a program like this warrants investment across our counties.
By focusing on these specific districts, we aimed to gather valuable insights and data-driven results that can inform future voter registration efforts.
Engaging Potential Unregistered Voters
Each potential unregistered voter (PUD) received a mailer containing:
✅ Introduction to the Democratic Candidate: A brief introduction to the democratic candidate running for office in their district, along with information on where to find more about the candidate.
✅ Registration Reminder: A notification informing the resident that they may not be registered at their current address.
✅ Registration Instructions: Step-by-step instructions on how to register to vote using the enclosed form or by scanning a QR code to register online.
In addition, each PUD received three text messages from Civitech as the registration deadline approached.
🗳️ Reminders to register to vote.
🗳️ Offers of assistance if additional information was needed.
What's more, this program included a valuable feature: a dashboard provided by Civitech for us to monitor the PUDs. This allowed us to track progress and make data-driven decisions as each new Hoosier registered to vote.
Targeted Outreach and Tracking Progress
✅ Multiple Out Reach
Each candidate received a targeted list of potential unregistered Democrats (PUDs) to conduct additional outreach, encouraging them to register. As we discussed earlier, multiple touch points are crucial for any action you want a voter to take. Across the state various groups were activated and working to encourage PUDs to register using the lists we provided. If you recall in my previous substack I shared the phases of the campaign cycle and I called out candidates can not do all the work on their own. This collective community effort was a beautiful example of Hoosiers coming together to support multiple candidates with voter registration.
Our initial data shows that we exceeded our goal of registering 29.9% of PUDs, thanks to our collective efforts.
What are the takeaways to Part One:
Despite, perhaps, a hostile registration environment from the Indiana Secretary of State’s Office, this program performed among the best in the nation in 2024 amongst other Civitech programs. It appears as though everyone who wanted to register were successfully added to the roles because of the work of the local country clerks. We encountered a few voter registration challenges, but each county clerk worked with our team to ensure each eligible voter was registered. As I mentioned prior, having a legal team to work through potential issues was key.
⭐️ HIGHLIGHTED LEARNING: Those included in Batch 1 - who had more time to register before the deadline - registered and voted at a higher rate, though negligibly.
⭐️ HIGHLIGHTED LEARNING: The district that over performed - in terms of higher registration - HD-24, which significantly over performed. District 24 was lead by Campaign Manager Raleigh Brown for Josh Lowry.
Closing Observation to Part One:
As we reflect on our voter registration program, two key takeaways emerge:
Data-driven decisions are crucial: Running a successful voter registration program requires relying on data-driven metrics and decisions. While registering voters at various community events is important, data-driven programs enable campaigns to track potential unregistered Democrats (PUDs) and bring them into the campaign universe more efficiently.
Preparedness matters: When faced with potential voter suppression tactics from the Secretary of State, Civitech's legal team was ready to assist. This highlights the importance of being prepared for any challenges that may arise during a voter registration program.
"The data from this Civitech program confirms what I've seen firsthand across multiple campaigns in Indiana - voter registration isn't just about numbers, it's about strategic engagement. When campaigns shift from random registration efforts to targeted, data-driven approaches, we don't just register more voters - we create pathways to meaningful participation. I saw this play out directly when working with Erika Watkins in Indiana House District 4, where our targeted registration efforts helped us identify and activate voters who became crucial supporters. By tracking these newly registered voters, we were able to immediately bring them into our communication strategy and build meaningful connections. In my work managing campaigns across all levels - from municipal and county races all the way to U.S. Senate and Congressional campaigns - I've consistently found that voters respond when they feel personally invited into the process. This program's success rate of nearly 30% registration among PUDs demonstrates that even in challenging political environments, thoughtful outreach works. What's particularly valuable here is the dashboard tracking, which allows campaigns to immediately move newly registered voters into their communication flow rather than waiting months to discover if their registration efforts succeeded. For any campaign looking to maximize limited resources, this targeted approach to bringing new voters into your universe is absolutely essential." - Kaleb Hagen. TBH Strategies, LLC.
Next Steps
Indiana's Secretary of State is set to release the next Voter File Updates at the end of March. Currently, only 65% of voter history is fully reported. Once the data becomes available, we will update our findings and answer our second question:
Did 80% of those who registered vote?
And…
Raleigh Brown - Campaign Manager for District 24 Shares Insights.
The campaign manager for District 24 will share valuable insights into the efforts and work that led to their district exceeding expectations. This is a great opportunity to learn from their experiences and gain practical knowledge on how to improve voter registration programs.
🚨 Call to Action 🚨
If you're interested in running a data-driven voter registration program, Civitech has analyzed the numbers for our largest counties. As you can see, Marion County has a significant number of PUDs. This is where we need dedicated individuals to step up and get to work! Who can do this work, Democratic Clubs, County Parties, District leaders - Reach out & Let’s do this!
📰 IN THE NEWS: Showing up matters!
Join
this Saturday for a PEOPLE’S TOWN HALL!
IN THE NEXT ISSUE:
Messaging – We will be diving deep into messaging and the role you can play right now as a grassroots organizer.
REFRAME YOUR THINKING … I KNOW ITS HARD! 🤦🏻♀️
"Don’t Blame them - Trump supporters were duped”
This is exactly what is wrong with the Democratic party. The brand is toxic yet you ignore that fact. There's no policy platform put forward. When I contact my elected officials about an issue they don't even acknowledge the communication let alone do anything about the matter i discuss.