It seems crazy to me that we always need to entice people to get out and vote. Offering an incentive to voters is always listed as a #TopTip to encourage people to show up at the polling stations. Why is that? Is the opportunity to vote not incentive enough?

So how can you do a little more to ensure that you give your candidate the best opportunity of getting elected? GOTV!

Check out our 5 ways of maximizing the turnout at the polls next time around:

Mass outreach

Ok, so you've done all the door knocking and cold calling - studies have already shown that this does, in fact, help voter turnout but you need to exhaust all avenues. Have you tried direct mail? Some people would regard that as old hat but we know it works. You need to capture as many voters as possible so get stuffing those envelopes folks.

Positive reinforcement

As frustrating as it may seem, you have to keep positive. It is baffling that people don't want to vote but you need to communicate the benefits of taking part, in what is essentially a communal task. Make people aware that by taking part they are not only getting involved but the part they play is unique to them.

Focus on the undecided

After you have canvassing done, you have recorded the reception at the door through a 5-star rating. Use the data you have collected and focus on those who you felt only registered a 3-star or below. Make it your aim to get as much of this demographic to the polls as possible. They may not vote for you this time but getting them to vote is enough until the next election season when you start again

Are you in their face?

Make sure you and your campaign team are visible. Be it billboards, TV ads, radio shoutouts. The kiss of death for a candidate is hearing that some voters didn't know you exist. Thanks to social media, we can now position ourselves in the homes of potential voters relatively expense free.

Poll striking

Getting a little more technical, you have your campaign staff situated at various polling stations marking off each person on the Poll Striking field in the app, so in other words, changing people from No to a Yes.

This is then synched back to HQ, where your Campaign Manager can filter out the people who answered Yes to GOTV and the people still marked No on the Poll Striking field.

You can then assign specific campaign staffers to recanvass these individuals to encourage them to go vote. We like to think of it as a little helpful boost to the polling stations!