New Experiments in Minority Voter Mobilization
The James Irvine Foundation has issued the third and final report in its California Votes Initiative, which has been working since 2006 to increase voter participation rates among infrequent voters, especially in the state's low-income and ethnic communities. The report, New Experiments in Minority Voter Mobilization (20 pages, PDF), examines the effects of specific approaches such as canvassing and phone calls, as well as the long-term effects of voter mobilization on voter attitudes toward politics and political engagement. It also identifies five practices organizations can use to increase turnout: making follow-up phone calls to self-identified likely voters; improving canvasser training and supervision; recruiting canvassers who are familiar with targeted voters; visiting or calling voters within four weeks of an election; and increasing live, personal contact between canvassers and voters.
