Policy Brief - Defending Digital Democracy

Elections Battle Staff Communications: Top Takeaways

October 2020

Your Election Battle Staff Communications Planning: D3P’s Election Battle Staff Playbook shares recommendations for maximizing coordination.  Whether you’re actively preparing for the election period or in the middle of it, ensuring your team can communicate reliably, efficiently, and seamlessly is critical to ensuring your election runs smoothly.

Elections offices have seen power outages, network outages, fire alarms, storms knocking down telecommunications equipment and power lines go down, all during the election period in past elections. Mobile devices often run out of battery.  Popular communications software is subject to occasional service outages and cyberattacks.  Mis/Disinformation can interject confusion necessitating a quick response.

Especially when teams are unable to rely on physical co-location during a pandemic, it is important to have contingency plans in place. Ahead of election day, make sure you have a back-up plan to keep communications going. Choose reliable communication methods and prioritize them in terms of effectiveness and ease of use.  Doing a “communications check” is something you can do up to election day.

Download the full PDF version:

For more information on this publication: Belfer Communications Office
For Academic Citation: “Elections Battle Staff Communications: Top Takeaways.” Policy Brief, Defending Digital Democracy, October 2020.
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