Studies have shown that when the tactic is put to use in the right way it can be extremely effective. When it’s not, political operatives say, the results can be disastrous.
NOV 13, 2019 5:05AM MST
Using mailers as a form of social pressure to urge people to vote is among the most effective ways of driving election turnout, studies show. The tactic, in fact, can be even more potent than door-to-door canvassing.
That’s especially true when voters are told how their voting record compares to their neighbors’. Such messaging can boost turnout by more than 8 percentage points, a Yale study in 2006 concluded, offering campaigns a cost-effective way to target voters in off-year elections when they might not normally cast a ballot.
But even small mistakes in employing the technique can have big consequences, as evidenced by a botched mailer sent by the campaign to pass Proposition CC on this year’s statewide ballot.
The mistake drew outrage and some voters even vowed to vote against Prop. CC in response.
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