How We Partnered with Civic Nebraska to Contribute to a 172% Increase in Vote by Mail Turnout.
Before
The State of Nebraska operates a complicated Vote by Mail (VBM) election system. Voters can apply to vote by absentee without exception. But the application is not easily accessible for all voters across the state. Nebraskans must visit the archaic state website, navigate the less-than-user-friendly pages to finally find the application. Then, the voter must fill out the form, print it, and send it back to the Secretary of State’s office via mail.
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After
Effct partnered with Civic Nebraska to simplify the process. We used a captivating explainer video to educate voters and designed a landing page for them to easily submitted their information to. We then directed them to the Vote By Mail application and continually followed up with automated emails to ensure they turned in their application.
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On Primary Election Day 2020, the state of Nebraska shattered voting history due to more than 80% of all votes cast by mail compared to 25% historically. The COVID-19 pandemic played a huge factor in the increase in VBM. Still Effct and Civic Nebraska's partnership generated 400,000 impressions online, and nearly 400,000 Nebraskans voted by mail.
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In Nebraska, voters are required to re-apply for their VBM ballot for the general election. To ensure the voters we registered during the primary re-applied, we sent out an email drip campaign informing them of the requirement and supplying them with the application link.
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Following the success of our primary election campaign, we developed multiple phases of advertisements for both Facebook and Google leading up to the general election. Through these ads we were able to garner 1,927,173 impressions and send the VBM application to 8,753 new contacts. This led to an increase of approximately 82,000 VBM voters (482,919 total) in Nebraska’s general election. In 2016, just 177,287 votes were mailed in, meaning there was a 172% increase in VBM in 2020.
Civic Nebraska has been extremely pleased with our partnership with Effct. The Effct team brought political and technical expertise to our statewide Vote by Mail push. From start to finish, they have demonstrated a keen understanding of the Nebraska electoral process. Their passion for voter access for all Americans aligns extremely well with our vision for voting rights for all Nebraska voters. We are ecstatic with our success in both the 2020 primary and general elections!
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- John Cartier
Director of Voting Rights,
Civic Nebraska

By the Numbers
2,327,419
~353,015
$2.64
53%