More than 3.7 million postcards featuring handwritten messages encouraging the recipients to vote have been sent to Michigan residents.
The postcards appear nonpartisan, lacking any imagery or messaging tying them to individual campaigns.
But the group coordinating the mailers – the Progressive Turnout Project – said the postcards are targeted to households they believe are likely to support Democrats if they turn out to vote.
The group estimates it has about a quarter million volunteers writing postcards.
California resident Michelle Martin is among those writing postcards for Michigan residents.
She said it provides a way for her to get involved from afar, without having to make calls for a campaign.
“We always get lost in the despair, like, ‘I’m just one person. What am I going to do?’” Martin said. “But all those people saying I’m just one person – that’s a lot of people.”
Volunteers are given options for three messages. The group said the most effective message relies on social pressure, reminding the recipient that while who you vote for is private, whether you vote is public record.
Michigan State University Department of Communication Chair Monique Turner said that message can be effective, but there’s a fine line to walk between using guilt to motivate people and shaming people, which leads to less effective outcomes.
“When academics talk about guilt, what they’re really talking about is when we point to people’s behavior, and that behavior is maybe something that they’ll regret later, or that sits below their moral compass,” Turner said. “Like, ‘You know you should do this. Why are you not? It’s going to hurt the nation,’ kind of thing.
“Shame is where we place the responsibility on, really, like, who they are. ‘You’re a bad person if you don’t do something. You’re irresponsible, selfish, lazy.’”
Turner said having volunteers handwrite the postcards sends an additional implicit message.
“If somebody sat down and handwrote these messages, and you can’t just drive to a poll, it makes you see the difference between the commitment and the amount of time people are putting in to being a good citizen,” Turner said.
Turner said the postcards appearing apolitical helps them stand out among a flood of election-related mail.
Progressive Turnout Project Program Outreach Director Reid McCollum founded the postcard program ahead of the 2020 election.
Since then, volunteers have sent more than 117 million handwritten postcards nationally.
McCollum compared the postcards to Elon Musk's investments to boost Republican candidates in swing states like Michigan with paid canvassers.
But unlike Musk's super PAC, the Progressive Turnout Project is funded primarily by small donors throughout the country.
McCollum estimates the postcards have added tens of thousands of votes for Democrats in key swing states like Michigan.
"One of the things that I like to do is look back at the extraordinarily close races across the country and just know that, when we're on the right side of those, our program, just like anything, could have made the difference,” McCollum said.
