(Courtesy of Teach NJ) As a result of Teach NJ’s targeted “Get Out the Vote” (GOTV) campaign for last week’s municipal election in Teaneck, voter turnout in the four precincts targeted by the advocacy organization topped 50% compared to 33% in other parts of the state.

Outreach efforts by Teach NJ, a project of the Orthodox Union, focused on encouraging residents to return ballots mailed automatically to their home by the state of New Jersey.

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the team had to cancel in-person events, which typically play a key role in successful GOTV efforts. Instead, the team leaned heavily on social media. This included producing a series of social media videos, enlisting pulpit rabbis to actively encourage their congregants to vote, organizing teams of volunteers to phone bank and mobilizing teenagers to urge their parents and grandparents to return completed ballots. As a result, the team was able to maximize its voter outreach resources.

Apart from in-person events, Teach NJ followed the GOTV model created by its Florida counterpart, Teach FL, which has developed a track record of highly effective voter mobilization. In 2018, Teach FL increased turnout among its target group of day school and yeshiva families by 238% in the primary and 160% in the general election. At 58%, total turnout in North Miami Beach was 150% higher than the Miami city average.

“Getting out the vote is such a central part of what we do in order to be effective advocates for nonpublic schools,” said Renee Klyman, Teach NJ’s grassroots director. “We were undeterred by COVID-19 and were successful because we identified exactly who we needed to reach and how to reach them. We used every channel at our disposal to deliver our messages at multiple touch points. The families we targeted care a great deal about education, so it was up to us to connect the dots between building a community of voters and the ability to have our priorities taken seriously by elected officials.”