The Big Election Plan of 2026 | Movement Voter Fund

Overview

2026 is our greatest chance in recent memory to mount a massive nonpartisan push for historic turnout and a safe and secure election.

At the start of this year, Minnesotans turned out en masse to show exactly what it looks like to mount a successful resistance in the face of state-sanctioned violence.

Then, over 8 million people gathered for No Kings 3 demonstrations to make it known that nonviolent non-cooperation is a powerful force, even and perhaps especially, in times of political demoralization.

What this tells us: People are ready to make their voices heard.

The key question is: How do we turn grassroots resistance into voter engagement and durable civic power?

Our most important job now is to channel the energy of these grassroots organizing efforts directly into voter registration, voter turnout, and a renewed sense of what is possible.

This will require a coordinated focus on power building. We cannot rely on the typical playbook of transactional paid canvasses that only launch right before the election. We must invest in deeper relational organizing strategies — both offline and online — that can mobilize historic turnout and build grassroots, organizational, and movement-wide capacity that extends far beyond the election.

We are investing in a five-phase plan that meets the moment. Join us.

Our five-phase plan takes us from voter preparation to the first day of early voting, to ensuring that every ballot is counted and certified. We are rallying and aligning local and national pro-democracy organizations and funders to collaboratively create, fund, and execute this critical opportunity.

Read on for an overview of the five phases — and join us by contributing here.

The Five-Phase Plan: Timeline and Key Activities

PHASE	TIMELINE	KEY ACTIVITIES
PHASE 1: Align the Movement: Creating a unified plan and getting in formation with partners	April - May	Meet with partners and survey best practices Create alignment among 200+ organizations Develop shared infrastructure, narrative, and training Map threats, defend against suppressive policies Organize funders and strategically deploy resources
PHASE 2: Build Early Momentum: Voter engagement, registration, training, and preparation	June - August	Disseminate best practices across all partners Absorb and train millions of volunteers Prepare voters: Check registration, sign up for absentee and Vote by Mail, and energize to vote Use primaries to stress-test mobilization strategies Deploy creators and new-media efforts to inoculate against misinformation and disinformation
PHASE 3: Get Out The Vote: Early in-person, Vote by Mail, and Election Day GOTV	September - November 3	Build programs to peak on the first day of early/mail-in voting and sustain through Election Day Spread good news and best practices Integrate voter protection and election safety in every mobilization plan Major narrative push on all fronts with “single source of truth” and clear intake process Prepare for rapid response as needed
PHASE 4: Count Every Vote	November 3-4+ (longer in key locales as needed)	Deploy observers to protect counting processes Launch rapid response as needed: Ballot curing (to correct ballot errors), litigation, public mobilization, and new-media efforts to counter misinformation
PHASE 5: Secure the Results	December - January	Monitor election certification Block attempts to subvert or overturn elections Continue rapid response as needed: Litigation, public mobilization, and narrative efforts Absorbing election-time volunteers into long-term organizing networks