Every Vote Counts

This year marks three milestone anniversaries for voting rights advocates. Ironically, it’s also a year in which the coronavirus and other factors are creating barriers for those trying to register and cast their votes. In response, REALTOR® associations have used distance-friendly approaches to register voters and get out the vote (GOTV) for the Nov. 3 election.

Florida REALTORS® promoted voter registration through an email campaign. “We have a proprietary system that tags each of our members as registered or not registered,” says Tom Butler, public policy communications director, “and we continuously clean the list as members register. This gives us a very accurate universe to work in and ensures we are using our resources efficiently.” The association supplemented its initial round of emails with postcards, targeted Facebook ads, and more emails.

In addition to email, the New Orleans Metropolitan Association of REALTORS® used social media blasts on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn to encourage members and the general public to vote, says Kelli Starrett, senior vice president, governmental relations. The campaign emphasized that early voting was an option; NOMAR began running it in September, ahead of early voting, which starts in late October in Louisiana. “We wanted to run the campaign early enough so that people would have time to plan, but not so far out that people weren’t thinking about the election yet,” Starrett says.