The folks working to get the Washington electorate to approve Referendum 74, which affirms the right of LGBT couples to marry, have found a unique and groundbreaking way to harness Facebook to power their Get Out the Vote operation. From Washington United for Marriage:
In what is believed to be the first application of its kind employed in the state, and one of the first nationwide, Washington United for Marriage (WUM) today launched a unique and powerful GOTV tool designed to engage family and friends to make sure all supporters of Referendum 74 cast their ballot by Nov. 6. The tool's potential power is significant because when you include the friends of WUM's Facebook fans, the campaign now has a reach that extends to every Facebook user eligible to vote in Washington.
The WAUM application cross-references a user's Facebook friend list with the Washington state voter database and is able to filter results according to the campaign's persuasion universe and indicators of voter reliability. (In other words, if a voter looks sympathetic but flaky, the application tells the user, "Give them a prompt!")
Today, Washington United for Marriage launches a unique and powerful GOTV tool designed to engage family and friends and make sure all our supporters vote to Approve Referendum 74.
In fact, this new tool lets you be the modern-day equivalent of a door knocker. Except, with the reach of Facebook behind you, you don't have to leave the couch or your desk.
Here's what we've done: We loaded in two powerful tools into the arsenal assembled for our "Marriage Heroes" battalion.
First, there's the "Get Out Your Friends" Facebook connection tool. Here's how it works:
Use Facebook to log in at hero74.org
This tool will cross reference your friend network with the Washington state voter database and determine who has already voted and who still needs to mark their ballots.
People in your network whose ballot has not yet been registered as received by the state will be flagged. When you find friends who may not have voted, it's easy to click "Send Message" and express your support for the freedom to marry and activate your network to vote.
Our friend connect provides a sample message that you can copy and paste into your own. You're encouraged to make your message personal. Telling your friends and family in your own words why marriage matters to you is the best way to motivate supporters.
Click "Send" and you're done. All this is done through the Washington United for Marriage campaign site.
You don't have to be in the state of Washington to use it. If you have a network of friends and family who are registered in Washington, they will show up in the list.
WUM campaign manager Zach Silk says:
This is a 21st century voter tool that we believe our supporters will love and implement. We now have more than 53,000 fans on Facebook. By empowering them to reach out to their family, friends and colleagues to vote by Nov. 6th, we've turned each of them into the modern-day equivalent of a door-knocker. The only difference is they can now reach hundreds of supporters and never leave the comfort of their living room or kitchen table.
Go to it, clickativsts of America!