PLANNING A COVID-CONSCIOUS NATIONAL VOTER REGISTRATION DAY EVENT
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PLANNING A COVID-CONSCIOUS
NATIONAL VOTER REGISTRATION DAY
EVENT
While COVID-19 remains a serious presence in first-time voters and those from underrepresented
daily life, it’s worth noting that conditions have groups. Despite the tremendous voter registration
changed drastically since last September, when all success of 2020 and the many virtual events it
of us were tasked with navigating National Voter included, research on voter registration efforts
Registration Day during the uncertain days of the shows that new voters registered through field-
fall and winter wave of cases. based efforts are more likely to be on the lower
end of the income scale, young, and people of
Between a better understanding of the virus as a color than individuals who register online.
whole and the widespread availability of multiple
vaccines of demonstrable effectiveness, we largely Although the country has made tremendous
expect National Voter Registration Day 2021 to be progress toward fully returning to a pre-COVID
more similar to pre-2020 holidays as it relates to level of normal, the Delta-driven rise in infections,
in-person interactions. hospitalizations, and deaths in multiple parts of
the country makes clear that there remain risks
That said, the rise of the Delta variant (and the and challenges related to in-person voter
potential for additional variants), increasing case registration drives in 2021. If your group is located
counts, and the ad hoc return of mask mandates in an area that has become a COVID hot spot
and other mitigation measures leaves open the and you choose to organize an in-person event,
possibility that partners across the country may be we encourage you to consider reviewing the tips
tasked once more to adapt their National Voter and guidelines below, which were proven in 2020
Registration Day plans with protocols that keep to allow for the organization of successful voter
COVID in mind, registration events.
After a long year of social distancing and the In preparing this guide, we are grateful for the
hefty degree of protection available to those who contributions of Med Out the Vote, as well as
have been vaccinated, we know that many of our Healthy Voting, a project of the American Public
National Voter Registration Day partners are ready Health Association, Center for Civic Design,
to plan in-person and public voter registration Center for Tech and Civic Life, National Association
drives on this year’s holiday. In-person drives are of County and City Health Officials, and
important and effective, particularly for engaging We Can Vote.
PAGE 1
PLANNING YOUR EVENT
Understanding Your Local Conditions your voter registration drive, beginning with the
As the last two years have made abundantly clear, planning phase.
public health conditions are highly variable across
• Event location: If possible, prioritize outdoor
the country, and can change very quickly. As you
and walk- or drive-through locations over indoor
begin to think about your National Voter Registration
locations. If using an indoor location, try and find
Day event, make sure that you’re informed about
one that is well-ventilated and consider opening
how COVID is impacting your community so that
windows during your event.
you can plan accordingly.
Consult the Center for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC) website for COVID-19 information
and updates (https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus
/2019-ncov/index.html). Also make sure to check
out state and local guidelines to understand public
health conditions specific to where you’re planning
to hold your event. If you’re not sure where to
access this information, we suggest the following
online search phrase: “Coronavirus data and
information for [Insert State/City].”
Planning Your Event
As of this document’s publication, the highly • Event duration: Consider a longer event so that
infectious Delta variant remains the dominant strain participants are able to visit throughout the
of COVID-19 in the country and has driven an day. Encourage staggered arrivals as much as
increase in new infections across the country, with possible to reduce crowding.
certain areas being particular hot spots. Despite
this rise, the widespread availability of effective • Explore options for touchless voter registration:
vaccines has allowed a greater degree of openness You might want to consider touchless voter
than was available last year. However, communities registration techniques, such as QR codes that
with low vaccination rates in the midst of a period visitors to your event can scan with their smart-
of rising cases may, for all intents and purposes, be phones to be directed to a voter registration
just as adversely impacted as they were in 2020. site. For example, our partners at the League of
Women Voters have a QR code that you can use
If you live in an area experiencing a surge in cases for free to direct potential voters to the
but determine that an in-person event is feasible, Vote411.org website, where individuals can
make sure to do your best to incorporate register to vote. For the QR code, see here:
precautions and protocols into every aspect of https://www.lwv.org/league-management/
elections-tools/vote411org-widgets-and
-qr-codes.
PAGE 2
• Consider online voter registration as part of • Have a contingency plan: Be prepared to
your event: If your state offers online voter pivot to a different type of event if conditions
registration (OVR), consider posting the link on continue to worsen in your area ahead of
posters so that passers-by can go directly to September 28 and an in-person event is no
the site without having to stop by your table. longer recommended. Determine some
You could also have a few laptops or tablets benchmarks to guide your decision-making
available for visitors that you sanitize between about how to organize your event.
use. This will reduce the need for face-to-face
engagement between your volunteers and Recruiting and Training Volunteers
potential voters. You can visit vote.gov to see
Making a few tweaks to your plan to recruit and
if online voter registration is available in your
train volunteers can go a long way in ensuring that
state and get redirected to your state’s election
your voter registration event is health conscious,
website.
effective, and goes smoothly.
• Get creative to limit contact: Besides looking
into QR codes and OVR, try and cook up some
other creative options to get voters registered
while still taking necessary public health
precautions. We’ve heard of drive-by voter
registration caravans where volunteers hand
forms to people in their cars, or even “virtual
volunteers” that are placed on a table and
connected via Zoom to help passers-by answer
questions about voter registration forms, and
more. Have ideas? Send them our way
(info@nationalvoterregistrationday.org) so we
can share them out with others!
• Plan for Personal Protective Equipment (PPE): • Consider the roles volunteers play: While
Wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) vaccination for COVID-19 can often be a divisive
when out in public can help slow and stop the topic, overwhelming evidence available makes
spread of the coronavirus. As of publication, the clear that vaccination is tremendously effective
CDC recommends that every adult and child, at preventing COVID-19 infection, severe illness,
regardless of vaccination status, wear masks hospitalization, and death.
while they’re indoors within areas experiencing With that in mind, it is recommended that
coronavirus outbreaks. To make sure your staff volunteers who will be interacting directly with
and volunteers have proper protection, budget the public be vaccinated. You may also want
for supplies such as masks, hand sanitizer, to attempt to recruit extra volunteers in the
gloves, sanitizing wipes, and single-use pens. event that some are unable to participate due
If you don’t have sufficient resources for these to sickness or other reasons. People who have
unanticipated needs, consider asking a local been exposed to COVID-19 in the past 14 days,
business to donate supplies or sponsor your or who are showing any symptoms of COVID-19,
community event. should stay home and not attend or volunteer
• Plan for social distancing: Purchase bright tape/ at your event. Consider other ways to engage
stickers to demonstrate at least six feet of social would-be volunteers who are unvaccinated, at
distance, and plan for extra tables to create higher risk for COVID-19, or who live with
physical barriers that prevent people from people at higher risk – can these individuals
getting too close. help with planning, fundraising, or promoting
your event instead of attending the actual
in-person event on National Voter
Registration Day itself?
PAGE 3DURING YOUR EVENT
• Adapt trainings to include COVID precautions stickers on the ground (National Voter Registration
first! Do your best to incorporate COVID Day stickers, for example!) to demonstrate
protocols into volunteer trainings, which will social distancing.
help everyone be on the same page about the
importance of following these protocols closely. An extra table can be used to provide a physical
Print out pocket guides for your staff and barrier that maintains social distance, or set up
volunteers to refer to throughout the day if they tables with plexiglass shields or plastic sheeting
need an in-the-moment refresher. to create a barrier between people. Maintain
distance when sharing forms with voters by
• Try to relieve volunteers of some of the placing forms on a clipboard or tablet and
compliance burden: Prepare clear and visible stepping back. Registrants can then step
signage to put up at your event to help forward to fill out their form. Or, once paper
participants adhere to public health regulations. forms have been completed, you could have
Consider designating one staff person who is individuals place their forms in a box to avoid
responsible for monitoring adherence to the having to hand it back to an event organizer
protocols you put in place at your event, and/or or volunteer.
have volunteers role play how they would
politely initiate a conversation on this topic • Mask up! As with all things COVID-19, best
during their training session. practices for masking continue to adapt to new
data and changing conditions on the ground. As
of publication, CDC guidelines recommend that
During Your Event each person, regardless of vaccination status,
It’s the big day! While you’re registering voters wear a mask or other face covering indoors
in record numbers along with thousands of other located in communities that are experiencing
partners on and offline across the country, don’t coronavirus outbreaks. If you’re in one of these
forget these simple tips to make sure everyone communities, remind volunteers and visitors that
feels prepared. Today is the day to put into practice they should refrain from touching their faces or
the careful plans you’ve laid to make the day a masks. If you can, provide disposable masks to
success on all levels. people who do not have one. Put one of your
National Voter Registration Day stickers on your
• Implement social distancing: Attempt to mask and you have a custom branded facemask!
maintain at least six feet of distance between
volunteers at a registration table and between • Sanitize, sanitize, sanitize: We know you’ll be
volunteers and registrants. This should include a busy registering voters left and right! But do
place for registrants to fill out forms while being your best to regularly sanitize all equipment,
assisted by volunteers and enough space to especially high-touch areas such as phone
wait in line while social distancing. Put tape or /tablet/computer screens if you are
offering online voter registration, table
tops, and clipboards.
PAGE 4AFTER YOUR EVENT
Set up a sanitizer or hand-washing station, and After Your Event
have anti-bacterial wipes available for wiping Congratulations! In addition to registering voters
down clipboards and other places that have and hopefully having lots of fun while doing so, you
high touch volume. also did your very best to keep everyone healthy.
As with 2020, deviations from the pre-COVID voter
Encourage regular use of these stations. If
registration norm means going the extra mile to
available, individuals should wash their hands
get voters registered is more important than ever
with soap and water for at least 20 seconds
and it’s going to take all kinds of innovative efforts
regularly. If using hand sanitizer, make sure it is
to help Americans get registered and ready to vote
one with at least 60% alcohol.
in their next election. Thanks for doing your part!
• Make your event BYO-Pen: If you’re having Remember to report back your voter registration
visitors to your event register to vote using results to us, send us pictures, and to also take a
paper forms, or having them use paper forms few additional precautions given the challenges the
for other purposes, ask them to use their own nation continues to face.
pens. If they don’t have one, let them take one • Get tested! If your staff and volunteers were
of yours home as a souvenir. If that’s not in the involved in a sustained period of public
cards for you, either sanitize pens after each use, interaction during your event, they should get
allowing them to full dry before the next person tested for COVID-19 three to five days after the
uses them, or have people using shared pens event. While waiting for results, they should
wear gloves. self-isolate.
• Take advantage of online options: If you’ve • Report any positive test results: Ask
chosen to use online registration as part of your volunteers, staff, and attendees at your event to
event, encourage this option for as many visitors report any positive COVID-19 test results back
to your event as possible to minimize contact to you ASAP for contact tracing.
between people. Make sure that any URLs or
QR codes are displayed in large-type, easy to • See a doctor if in doubt: If volunteers, staff, or
read fonts for passers-by to see and use without attendees at your event exhibit any symptoms
needing to come very close to your event. of sickness afterwards, encourage them to stay
home and get in contact with their primary
care physician.
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