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Increase Voter Turnout: Campaign Ambassador

Campaign endorsements by celebrities are common in the United States. Stars like Pharell Williams, Clint Eastwood, Madonna or George Clooney encourage eligible voters – often through the internet or social media – to take part in the election. These types of personalities draw a lot of attention and can thus reach more voters which is likely to increase voter turnout. 

In the 2015 UK General Election, the various election campaigns received several endorsements and were supported by celebrities and other influential personalities. They supported the viral campaign strategy – through the internet, posters and adverts – to motivate first-time voters especially to exercise their right to vote. Using so-called campaign ambassadors to activate voters is absolutely worth thinking about and can be used in a similar way during your next election.

Making Use of Campaign Ambassadors

It's always been the case that people create idols and trust the opinions of people they know. Furthermore, there's less risk involved in orientating yourself towards people whose opinions you value. It's a fundamental law of nature that people imitate the behaviour of others, and people worth imitating can be either generally famous or come from within someone's immediate social surroundings. That's why it's very effective to involve people who have some kind of influence to ask voters to use their right to vote in your election.

No matter how many participants are in your election – influential people endorsing your election can help to increase your voter turnout. 

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Election Officials and Campaign Ambassadors Increase Voter Turnout Together

You can implement a variety of ideas with campaign ambassadors – from distributing fliers to get-to-know-you networking barbecues. Use your creativity and ask others for their ideas because you know your group best. When you have the attention of your voters, you will see voter turnout increase and your efforts pay off. 

POLYAS-Tip: Use your campaign ambassadors for example as Twitter admin. Current news about the election can be shared via tweets and posts. Your voters will appreciate the additional information and it facilitates the election. 

Campaign Ambassadors Chosen from the Electorate

The best campaign ambassadors are those who also take part in the election. Talk to your voters to see if they are interested in actively supporting the election. In doing so, it's important to keep in mind that engaging in the election shouldn't require a huge amount of effort. 

Involve key people who have a good relationship with younger voters, who are generally engaged in the election process or who have a particularly wide network. By asking these key people to support you, your message will be heard.

Special election information for campaign ambassadors 

The campaign ambassador needs specific election campaign material to give their network all necessary information.
The following low-cost means of information support the work of your campaign ambassador: 

  • Write a universal email message which your campaign ambassador can use. This email can be adjusted to the needs of different electoral groups by adding a personalised message.
  • Create fliers, stickers, buttons or similar material to be distributed.
  • Make a so-called "social-media-visual". A visual is a graphic with a slogan which can be shared easily via social media channels.
    Send this graphic to your campaign ambassador and ask them to share it from their social media profiles.