What’s the conversation you’re having with voters?

We have been doing a deep dive into voter information right now. We’re gathering materials from counties, states, parties, advocacy groups, community groups — you name it. We’re looking at printed pieces as well as websites. We may encounter some videos, too. As a collection, they’re pretty fascinating for a variety of reasons. (Just the breadth of design production value alone probably should be the subject of a Ph.D. dissertation. But we don’t have time for that.)

Who is speaking, please?

While some of the items we’ve encountered do a superb job at answering voters’s questions, a lot of them don’t. Though it’s early in this deep dive, one element we think is important to the success of voter information — based on some pilot research we did in 2012 — has to do with voice.

Yes, the written word has a “voice.”

When you read a novel, you hear the voice of the narrator or the main character in your head. Turns out, this is what happens when voters encounter voter information, too. No matter whether it is printed or online, video or audio, people who consume the information you put out imagine a person saying it or writing it. They do this based on the voice and tone.

In some of the materials, the voice is authoritative and threatening: “You must have the proper documentation or you won’t be able to vote.” In others, the voice is encouraging and helpful: “To register to vote, bring a copy of anything that shows your current address and a government-issued form of identification, like a driver’s license, a state ID card, or a passport.”

Either voice might be appropriate, depending on the purpose of the material. Or it might not. What if your election department chose one voice and applied it across all the ways you deliver voter information, from pamphlets to Twitter? (You are on Twitter, aren’t you? If you are, and you tell us your Twitter handle, we’ll follow you.)

Are you broadcasting or having a conversation?

Another common element among the pieces that tested well in our pilot studies was that participants told us that they felt like there was a conversation rather than a broadcast. We don’t know how all the materials were developed, but an awful lot of them seem to have been created to solve a problem: People are showing up with the wrong documentation or no documentation, they’re missing deadlines, they’re in the wrong polling place, and so on. But the pieces that participants said they learned the most from seemed to be anticipating their questions. Some did this literally, by turning the headings into questions. Others used the headings as one-sentence answers. (These techniques work for web links, too, by the way.)

Voters don’t have a strategy for how they will get information about elections. They hope that it will be available in their favorite format, from printed material to social media.

They want to know when, where, and how they will vote, from finding their polling place to being reminded of how the voting system works. And they want this information in language they understand.

Most of all, they want the right information in the right format at the right time.

Plan to use:

  • printed booklets to help voters plan
  • your website to help voters take action
  • radio/tv to help voters’ awareness of elections or changes
  • social media to keep the conversation going with voters before, during, and after elections

Treat all communication as a conversation.

  • Choose a tone and voice.
  • Be polite, personable, and positive — just like you are in person.
  • Use personal pronouns, like “you” and “we.”
  • Use the same voice across all media.

Here are some examples.

Before

How do I affiliate with a
political party?

Voters may register with any of the state’s recognized political parties. Choosing not to register with a party, means that the voter is “unaffiliated.” Unaffiliated voters may not vote in primary elections, but may be able to vote in any nonpartisan primary election held in your jurisdiction, such as a primary election to select nominees for the board of education, and any general election.

After

Why should I choose a political party when I register to vote?

The main reason to register with a political party rather than choosing “unaffiliated,” is to vote in party-based primary elections.