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In exchange for the preservation of more than 2,000 acres of
open space in and around the Grand Canyon in Coconino County,
Arizona, the U.S. Forest Service proposed that a controversial
community housing development, called Canyon Forest Village, be
built only eight miles from the Grand Canyon. Following 30 public
hearings across a nine year time frame, Canyon Forest Village
was finally approved by a community vote and was placed on the
November 7th ballot as Proposition 400. A "Yes" vote to Proposition
400 would allow for necessary rezoning for the development of
Canyon Forest Village.
An extensive four-phase telephone campaign began several months
prior to the November Election. Originally, the first three phases
were to consist of live, in-depth identification calls followed
by three rounds of Get Out The Vote calls during the fourth calling
phase. However, the results obtained during the first two Identification
Phases showed an interesting pattern and resulted in a change
of the telephone strategy. Overall, results showed that the community
was mostly opposed to the development, misunderstood much of the
information as to how the development would benefit the community
at large, and placed the most credence on the U.S. Forest Service's
endorsement of the development. Because of this, it was determined
that the last two phases would include an effective blend of automated
calls with live telephone calls using a credible endorsement to
correct the misunderstandings regarding how the development of
Canyon Forest Village would benefit voters and their community
and to take advantage of the public's favorable perception of
the U.S. Forest Service's stance.
Former Superintendent of the Grand Canyon National Park, Bob
Chandler, was selected as a highly recognizable and reputable
endorsement for the Vote Yes to Proposition 400 campaign. The
rationale in selecting Bob Chandler was that his former association
with the Grand Canyon National Park would effectively persuade
voters to cast their votes in favor of the measure.
Chandler recorded a 45-second automated message that dovetailed
the third phase of live identification calls. A live to automated
calling strategy was utilized that allowed for optimizing voting
preference identification while still maximizing production and
the number of voters contacted. The strategy blended automated
calls with live telephone calls dependent on the number of completed
identification calls handled by live telephone operators. Specifically,
once 65% of the voters were contacted by live telephone, then
Chandler's automated pre-recorded persuasion message was delivered
to answering machine pick-ups only, with live answers still being
handled by telephone operators
For the three rounds of calling conducted in the final Get Out
The Vote phase, based on targeted voters' demographics, a professional
female telephone operator was selected to record a persuasive
Get Out The Vote message that reminded voters to look for Proposition
400 at the bottom of the ballot. Again, a blend of live and automated
calls was made to all supporters identified in previous phases.
The same strategy for blending automated to live message delivery
was used.
There were two primary goals. First, based on the identification
information collected in the first two calling phases, the message
and third-party endorser for the automated telephone campaign
were designed to heighten the voters' awareness that both the
U.S. Forest Service and the National Park Service supported Proposition
400. Second, the blended automated to live calling strategy allowed
for maximum voter contact during the final two phases and ultimately
increased the turnout of favorable voters.
Former Superintendent Bob Chandler recorded a conversational
automated message in which he spoke about how the development
of Canyon Forest Village would guarantee the preservation of more
than 2,000 acres of open space near the Grand Canyon. He also
highlighted the fact that both the U.S. Forest Service and the
National Park Service supported the development of Canyon Forest
Village. His message truly demonstrated his confidence that a
"Yes" vote to Proposition 400 would be in the community's best
interest.
The inclusion of the automated message blended with the third
phase of live identification calls not only resulted in a solid
identification of voting preference on 83% of the completed calls,
but the automated portion using Chandler's pre-recorded persuasion
message allowed for an additional 12% of the voters to be personally
contacted. Overall, 87% of the voters targeted were reached during
this phase. Likewise, during the three rounds of calls conducted
in the GOTV Phase, the blended live to automated calls resulted
in the message being delivered to 88% of the previously identified
favorables.
The questionnaires used in the first two live identification
calls effectively gathered information such that a blended live
to automated telephone strategy could be implemented in the last
two calling phases. As a result of Bob Chandler's pre-recorded
endorsement, the community's approval of Proposition 400 increased
and maximum favorable voter turnout was achieved.
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