Tough night at the ballot box...now what?
One of the most disheartening ways to spend an evening is attending a “victory party” for a school district ballot issue where everyone watches the results go south. All the hard work, passion, messaging, yard signs, etc. and somehow the voters didn’t connect with whatever the district placed before them.
In the post-mortem following such a day, it’s easy to get caught up in playing the “What went wrong?” game.
Usually, the first guess is “Voters just didn’t get it,” which leads to rallying cries of “Let’s get back out there and just work harder this time.”
More often than not, that’s a bad plan. Whether your proposal lost by one vote or by thousands, the idea that you can simply push your nose further to the grindstone for the next go around and it will all turn out better is wishful thinking that can actually dig the district in an even deeper hole if (and when) you lose a second time in quick succession.
Generally speaking, whatever the district was proposing didn’t resonate at some level with enough voters to get the job done. It was the wrong project or set of projects. It was too costly. There was a trust issue. You were going up against other tax proposals on the ballot on the same day. You talked about features (“15 new bathrooms at the high school!”), instead of benefits.
The potential reasons are endless. That’s why the best first step is to take one (step, that is) back and conduct research with voters to find out what didn’t click.
Random digit dial telephone research (with landlines and cell phones) allows you to pinpoint your pockets of voters, so the results reflect what your district looks like, in terms of your population pattern. As you think about what to ask, keep these items in mind:
Confirm the respondent voted, but wait to ask how he or she voted until the end. If you can’t get easy access to voting information for your election that includes phone numbers, ask early on in your survey if the person voted in the election. Thank and excuse those who did not. Once you have built up rapport, you can close the survey asking them if they would tell you how they voted. You’d be surprised how many will do so.
Present a list of reasons “we have heard” about why the ballot issue was unsuccessful. Read that list, and ask your participants to identify which ones they thought were the most important, second-most important and third-most important. Apply a simple weighted scale to the results, and you’ll get a pretty clear picture of what happened.
Ask for advice. The last main question should be along the lines of, “If you were advising the school district on how to move forward on this proposal, what would you say?” You will be surprised at the solid counsel you’ll receive.
Above all, take a breath, grieve a bit and then get to work figuring out how to put the next proposal in the best position to win.
Want additional information? Learn more about our post-loss research surveys on our website, read a sample report, or contact Rick Nobles at rick@patroninsight.com or (913) 484-0920.