Get Out the Vote: Use Change Management

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It is election season and pundits are lamenting poor voterturn-out [1].  Could change management increasevoter turn-out? There is ample evidence that it would.
In this article, we will review the three standardtechniques to change behavior and how they may be applied to voting.
To change behavior, we need to make the behavior 1.      Easy:Provide support to make behavior easier to perform2.      Compelling:Make behavior more meaningful for participant3.      Social:Engage social network to encourage behavior

1.      Makeit easier

If voting was a retail transaction, it would go bankrupt.What if Starbucks required registration, provided few places to buy, and thenrequired customers to wait in a long line. Once customers reached the baristathey needed to prove they were Starbucks customers. To increase voting weshould borrow from the retail masters.
Voting That Fits Voter’s Habits The part of the brain dedicated to planning in advance isthe smallest portion and tires easily. Pre-registration relies on this weakestcognitive tool and forces voters to think about voting months in advance.
Voting for many is decided closer to election day. A handfulof states have eliminated registration or allow same day registration. Stateswith Election Day Registration have consistently higher turnout than states thatrequire hyper-organization. [2]
More evidence on the impact of registration is the fact thatthose who do not move and hence do not need to re-register, vote more often.
Pre-registering voters is a technique used in Germanyand Finland. Compared to other European countries, they enjoy higher thanaverage turn-out. Pre-registering works because it is a form of “opt-in”; aclassic change management tool that was popularized by Thaler and Sunstein intheir book Nudge.   Convenient as StarbucksVoting centers that are located where people already visitincreased voting by 10%. This is analogous to placing an ATM at the grocerystore or a Starbucks every few miles. Much of the increase is for voters whowould normally stay home. [3]  
A longer voting period also increases convenience andreduces peak load so lines are shorter.Church groups and other advocacy groups are grass rootsefforts to help citizens with the process of voting. 
It is also an example of socialsupport which will be discussed later.

2.      IncreaseMeaning

My Vote CountsIndicators show that when an election is deemed important,voting increases. Presidential elections on average have higher turnout thanother elections. An election that is close generates higher turn-out than alopsided race. Swing states turn-out more heavily.
Similarly advocacy groups encourage voter turn-out byfocusing voters on an issue where their vote could sway the outcome.
To further increase the value of each citizen’s vote, manyhave advocated eliminating the electoral college and counting the popular votedirectly.
Rational allocation of districts is another tactic to increaseparticipation. We need to avoid gerrymandering which increases the oddssignificantly for one party or the other and distorts the voting process. [4]  

3.      Add SocialSupport

Role Models RuleParental voting patterns impact their offspring. Marriedvoters vote more than singles due in some part to social support.
Peer Pressure WorksThe Swiss have experimented with social support by signalingwho has avoided their civic duty. This works well in villages where citizensalready enjoy strong social bonds. Sharing information about non-votingcitizens, appeared to shame the malcontents into voting. [5]
Although the Swiss approach does not fit our culture, itsuse of peer signaling has merits.
Feedback Loop Apple used signaling when it first introduced its iPod. Apple’sunique style of earbuds signaled to others that the wearer was a hip Appleuser. The earbuds became a positive feedback loop by increasing visibility whichled to more users which then further increased visibility to attract even moreusers.
Analogous to earbuds, the “I voted” sticker could be used tosignal that voting is a social norm. Stickers have been handed out after votingfor years, but unless the individual voted early and wore with pride, then hisfellow citizens would not benefit from his good example. Switching fromstickers to social network badges that would accrue for each election wouldmake voters more visible.  [6]

Tear Down Barriers

For me, voting is already easy, compelling and sociallysupported. I vote using an absentee ballot. Since I move infrequently, I rarelyneed to bother with registration. As a naturalized citizen I feel a specialhonor to vote.  Discussion of the issues withfriends and family reinforces my commitment.
But what about those voters whose circumstances make votingdifficult? We can use these simple and low-cost change management techniques to“Get Out The Vote!”  

Notes:

1.      Surprise– Voting is Holding Steady, Not Declining.The impression that voter turnoutis declining is erroneous.  Most voterturn-out calculations use number of voters compared to the total population ofadults to calculate a percentage such as 52%. 
But total adult population alsoincludes ineligible voters such as felons and noncitizens.  Ineligible voters grew from 2 to 10% duringthe period when voting supposedly declined. 
When Dr. Michael McDonald, aprofessor of public affairs at George Mason University, used eligible votersrather than total adult population, he found that voter turn-out heldsteady. Read more at Dr. McDonald's website >>  
Although the decline is over-hyped,we can still do better than 55 to 60% of eligible voters.  
2.      Increase in voting where pre-registering iseliminated As documented by Brennan Center for Justice in its VotingRights paper, “Voting rights advocates have long praised Election Day Registration(EDR). Becauseit has existed in some states for nearly forty years, there is a substantialrecord of its benefits. States with EDR have consistently had higher turnout thanstates without, and the top five states for voter turnout in 2008 were all EDRstates.  There is also evidence that EDRspecifically increases turnout among young voters.” Read the full report [PDF] >> 
3.      Votingcenters located conveniently increases participation. Read more at Science Daily >>
4.      “Winnertake all” holds down votingThe winner take all ofpresidential politics is making voters in many states feel disenfranchisedleading to less voting. In addition, like-minded individuals living in the sameareas (blue states on the coasts and red states in the heartland and south)reduces turn-out since the majority is likely to win.  Read more at The New York Times >>
5.      TheSwiss experiment to use peer pressure to encourage voting. Read the paper [PDF] >>  In addition, U.S. researchers dida similar experiment with good results. Read the article at Political Science Mag >> 
6.      Socialmedia to signal voting. Read more at Biz Report >>