We Tested Our Voter Registration Programs, and the Results Are In:
Civitech Crushed it in 2024
We ran randomized control trials (RCTs) on our 2024 voter registration programs and they made a major impact where it matters most: getting people registered.
Overview
In 2024, Civitech ran local, state, and national programs to help the new American majority (young voters, folks of color, and the working class) get registered and show up at the polls.
Instead of setting it in place and hoping it worked, we gathered the self-proclaimed nerdiest minds in political tech to confirm they did. We ran randomized controlled trials (RCTs) across our campaigns to figure out what actually made a difference.
Wait! What are RCTs?
Glad you asked. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are basically when you use two groups (one that receives the thing being tested, one that doesn’t), and compare them against each other to see if there’s a noticeable difference. We also included third-party verifiers to call us on our stuff and make sure everything was accurate. Basically, we triple checked our results, then had someone check that.
So, What Happened?
It’s a long story, so we encourage you to dig further into this site to find out!
BUT, the short answer is that we found investing in our registration solutions is an extremely efficient, affordable vote-generating machine for Democratic candidates and causes.
TL;DR: Civitech helps campaigns get more Democratic votes for fewer dollars.
Methodology
The Groups
Randomly split potential voters into two camps: one got our outreach; one didn’t.
The Programs
We used a combo of pre-filled registration forms, postcards, and texts. Some folks got all three. Some got just one.
The Results
Using 95% confidence intervals (a.k.a. solid stats, super conservative parameters for success), we saw a statistically significant lift across the aggregate of programs. In fact, our programs are more effective than even we thought they were.
Here’s Why It’s Important
Democracy isn’t working for everyone yet. Millions of eligible voters (especially young people, BIPOC folks, and the working class) are missing from the rolls and experiencing voter suppression. That’s unfair, unjust, and dangerous for democracy.
Our mission as an organization is to help fix that, and through these trials we were able to confirm that what we’re doing has real impact. Our stuff works, it’s tested, validated, and it’s ready for you to use.
The Three Treatments
Tactic 1: Pre-Filled Registration
People face tons of barriers to getting registered. Our pre-filled forms made signing up easier, and tons of folks registered. Big lifts, small cost, and very real Democratic votes.
Tactic 2: Postcards
Turns out, postcards aren’t just for saying “wish you were here” to your best pals back home. Postcards worked wonders with young voters and other key groups. They were targeted, effective, and affordable.
Tactic 3: Text Follow-Ups
Texts might not be the “it” thing anymore, but they’re cheap and effective, especially when layered with other outreach. We’re not throwing them out anytime soon.
The Big Numbers
Total Votes Influenced
These people got our programs, got registered, and showed up to vote on election day.
Net Votes Attributed to Civitech
These net votes represent Civitech’s true, definitive impact. Consider them our receipts. These are people we know would not have voted otherwise without our programs.
$162–$309/vote
Costs Per Votes
Compared to the industry average of $2,000+ when targeting partisan voters, it seems like we’re more than just “investment worthy.” But that’s just us…
Total Votes vs. Net Dem Votes
In political data, not all numbers are equal. Lots of programs can claim to “touch” or “influence” hundreds of thousands of voters, but most of those voters would have participated anyway.
Additionally, we had a number of clients use our data to run their own voter registration programs independently, and we have excluded those results from our own.
Civitech’s RCTs were designed to measure the net votes that we know we made happen.
We care more about giving you a realistic, truthful idea of our impact than padding our numbers for the quick sale.
Why It Matters
Those 50K net votes are the votes that can actually swing elections in favor of Democrats. It’s all about the gains.
One of our values is integrity, and we wouldn’t be living up to that if we were inflating our numbers based on technicalities.
At an extremely low cost per vote, Civitech is wildly affordable for the impact we have.
Here today, here tomorrow
Voters we registered in previous election cycles turned out again in 2024.
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