With social interactions likely to be limited for the foreseeable future, the Progressive Turnout Project is reassessing its plan to ramp up face-to-face campaigning next month.
Alex Morgan, the group’s executive director, told POLITICO it will be difficult to replace in-person interactions, given how effective that kind of contact is in generating turnout. “People don’t remember what comes through their mailbox,” said Morgan. “They don’t remember the annoying phone call that they got. They scroll past digital ads. So those tactics, while very scalable, only have a couple percentage points effect in terms of increasing voter turnout in an election.”
Morgan is hopeful his employees and volunteers can get out in the field sometime this summer, but he has no idea when it’ll be safe to return to the office or what, exactly, a post-coronavirus field operation will look like.
He said he’s thinking about what guidance to give on engaging with voters in the aftermath of the virus, such as asking canvassers to step back after knocking on doors, and whether pens should be a giveaway item. But in the meantime, his organization is prioritizing educating voters on mail ballots.
