How to build an early-vote chase program
Close local races are won by the campaign that banks its supporters early and chases the stragglers. Here's how to build an early-vote chase program step by step.
Most campaigns spend months identifying their supporters and then leave the most important step to chance: actually getting those people to vote. An early-vote chase program fixes that. It's the system that takes your list of identified supporters, banks as many of their votes as possible during the early-voting window, tracks who has and hasn't voted, and then relentlessly chases the rest through Election Day. In a low-turnout Texas May election, where a school board or council seat can come down to a handful of votes, a well-run chase is often the entire difference between winning and losing.
Key takeaways
- The goal is to bank your supporters early — turn identified supporters into cast votes during the early window, before Election Day risk piles up.
- Every day during early voting you pull the voter file to see who has voted, then remove them from your chase list — you stop bothering people who've already voted.
- You chase only your identified supporters who haven't voted yet — never persuade on a chase, just turn out.
- A disciplined chase wins close races because it converts soft support into guaranteed votes and shrinks Election Day risk.
What is an early-vote chase program?
A chase program is a turnout machine, not a persuasion effort. By the time it runs, the arguing is over — you already know (from your voter ID work) who supports you. The chase exists to make sure those people actually vote. The mechanic is simple and repeats daily during early voting: you start with your list of supporters, the elections office releases the early-vote roster showing who has cast a ballot, you mark those people 'voted' and drop them from your list, and then you contact whoever's left with a 'you haven't voted yet — here's where and when' message. Each day the chase list gets shorter and your banked-vote count grows.
Why 'bank' votes early?
A vote cast during early voting is locked in — it can't be lost to a sick kid, a work emergency, rain, or a forgetful Election Day. Banking your soft supporters early removes risk and lets you focus your final-day energy on the smallest, hardest-to-reach group. This is the heart of any local GOTV program.
Why does an early-vote chase win close races?
Because turnout, not persuasion, decides most local races. Imagine two candidates who each have 2,000 identified supporters. Candidate A does nothing special and 60% of her supporters happen to vote — 1,200 votes. Candidate B runs a chase, banks the easy ones early, and drags her soft supporters to the polls, getting 80% turnout — 1,600 votes. Same level of support, 400-vote swing, decided entirely by organization. In a race won by a few hundred votes, that's everything. The chase is also the most efficient money you'll spend: you're not buying awareness or trying to change minds, you're converting support you already have into the only thing that counts on the canvass.
How do you build your chase list?
Your chase universe is built long before early voting starts. It's the product of all your ID work — the doors, calls, and texts where you scored voters as supporters. Here's the sequence:
- 1.Identify supporters early. Run voter ID through doors, phones, and texts for weeks or months. Score every contact. Your chase list is everyone scored 'strong' or 'lean' support.
- 2.Prioritize your softest supporters. Hardcore supporters will likely vote anyway. The highest-value targets are the people who like you but don't reliably vote — they're where the chase earns its keep.
- 3.Capture the best contact method per voter. Phone, text, email, door — know how to reach each supporter fast, because the chase moves daily.
- 4.Confirm the early-voting calendar. Pull your county's early-voting dates and locations so your message can tell each voter exactly where and when. See the Collin County election calendar.
Mandate runs your chase automatically.
Mandate ingests the daily early-vote file, marks who's voted, and rebuilds your chase list every morning — then fires the right text, call, or door knock to the supporters who haven't voted yet. Voter data, field, texting, and dialer in one nonpartisan login, so your whole GOTV runs itself.
How do you track who has and hasn't voted?
This is the engine of the program, and it's the part that's painful to do by hand. During early voting, your county elections office releases a daily (or near-daily) list of who has already voted — the *early-vote roster*. Each day you match that roster against your supporter list and update it:
- Pull the daily early-vote file from the county as soon as it's released.
- Match it to your supporter list and mark everyone who's already voted as 'banked.'
- Remove banked voters from the chase — nothing annoys a supporter more than being nagged to vote after they already did.
- Re-run your chase against the remainder — the shrinking list of supporters who still haven't voted gets that day's contact.
Don't chase people who already voted
If your data is stale and you text a supporter three reminders after they've voted, you look disorganized and you waste contacts. Daily file updates aren't a nicety — they're the whole point. This is exactly the kind of repetitive matching software should do, not a volunteer with a spreadsheet at midnight.
How do you chase the remaining voters?
With your shrinking list of not-yet-voted supporters, escalate your contact as the deadline approaches. The message never changes much — *you haven't voted yet, here's where and when, can we count on you?* — but the intensity ramps:
| Phase | Channel | Message |
|---|---|---|
| Early voting begins | Text + email | Early voting is open — here's your nearest site |
| Mid early-vote | Phone calls | Personal reminder; offer ride/help if needed |
| Final days of early vote | Text + door knock | Last chance to vote early — beat the Election Day lines |
| Election Day | Calls + door knock | Polls close at 7 p.m. — let's get you there |
On Election Day, your chase list should be small — just the supporters who didn't vote early. That's where you point every volunteer, every call, and every door knock, because polls close at 7 p.m. and there are no second chances. Combine the early-vote chase with a strong phone bank and you have a turnout operation most local opponents simply won't match.
The bottom line
An early-vote chase program is the highest-leverage thing a local campaign does in its final weeks: bank your supporters early, update your data daily, and chase the stragglers until the polls close. It's also the most data-intensive — which is why doing it on spreadsheets breaks down fast. Mandate ingests the daily early-vote file, rebuilds your chase list every morning, and fires the right outreach automatically, all in one nonpartisan login. Ready to build your chase? Grab the free Collin County filing kit or apply for access.
Frequently asked questions
What is an early-vote chase program?
It's a get-out-the-vote system that banks your identified supporters' votes during early voting, tracks who has and hasn't voted using the county's daily early-vote roster, and chases the remaining supporters until the polls close. It turns soft support into cast votes.
How do you know who has already voted?
During early voting, county elections offices release a daily or near-daily roster of who has cast a ballot — not how they voted, just whether they did. You match that against your supporter list to mark banked voters and chase only those who haven't voted yet.
Why bank votes early instead of waiting for Election Day?
A vote cast early is locked in and can't be lost to illness, weather, work, or forgetfulness. Banking soft supporters early removes risk and lets you concentrate your final-day effort on the smallest, hardest-to-turn-out group.
Should I try to persuade voters during the chase?
No. A chase is pure turnout — you're contacting people you already identified as supporters and simply making sure they vote. Persuasion happens earlier, through doors and phone calls. The chase message is just where, when, and can we count on you.
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Keep reading
All resourcesGOTV for Local Campaigns: A Practical Guide
May local elections are won or lost in the final stretch. Here's how to identify your supporters, bank their votes early, and run an Election Day chase that wins.
Phone Banking That Actually Converts Voters
Most phone banks fail because the script is wrong and the dialer is slow. Here's how to set up calls that identify supporters, persuade the undecided, and turn out your vote.
Early Voting in Collin County: A Voter's Guide
Early voting for the May 1, 2027 Collin County election runs in late April. Here's when and where to vote, what ID to bring, and why most local votes are cast before Election Day.
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