Mobilizing Returning Citizens to Vote Through Relational Organizing in Texas
People with past criminal convictions register and vote at very low rates and are difficult to mobilize: they are hard to find, and often skeptical of politics. We test a new approach, asking whether justice-impacted individuals’ loved ones can effectively encourage them to register and vote. In 2024, we fielded an experiment to test this idea. We sent mailers to assess the effectiveness of a social tie relative to two other kinds of messages: outreach by a generic, community-based organization, and outreach with a personalized message about the importance of voting from a formerly incarcerated person. We compare registration and turnout among those contacted by those who receive a direct appeal and those who receive an indirect appeal to an already-registered loved on of the focal voter with a conviction. We learn that social ties can be effective at improving electoral engagement among eligible voters with convictions, but among those who lack an already-engaged social tie direct appeals from community based organizations can help overcome the civic deficit of lacking politically engaged loved ones.