Every election season, short-term rental alliances have an opportunity to educate members on how particular ballot measures or candidates could affect property owners, business owners, the economy, and the community as a whole.
Creating your own alliance voter guide is a great vehicle to get there. Voters love it when you do the research for them and present it in a concise, informational way. Voter guides are also an effective way to engage members. In fact, voter guides have been some of the most popular and appreciated content among alliances that Rent Responsibly works with.
Start early on gathering basic election and voting information
Adequately planning a voter guide involves knowing the basics as early as possible.
What are the basics?
- Your city, county, and state’s election schedule
- Seats up for election
- Due date for candidate filings
- Local ballot measures
Most of this information is available on the elections page on your city or county government’s website. As candidates file to run for office, you can find their filing information posted with other election information, or you can request copies from your local elections’ office. Either way, obtaining a copy of candidate filings provides you with useful contact information for your local candidates and background information about them.
⭐ Tip: Reach out to candidates as soon as they file for election to allow adequate time for responses. Email the candidate with a request for their general stance, or a full questionnaire, to glean their views on short-term rentals.
Consider this template to email local candidates:
Hi [Name],
My name is [Your Name], and I am with [Your Local Alliance Name]. I am reaching out today because I am preparing a voting guide for our [#] members for the upcoming election. Would you mind sharing with me your general stance on short-term rentals in [Your City]?
Thank you for your time!
This template garnered a 100% response rate in building this voter guide for the Chapel Hill STRA.
In some cases, political controversy over short-term rentals could spook some candidates from responding to your outreach or questionnaire. If answers don’t seem forthcoming, don’t give up! There are other ways to get this information. One option used by groups like the Oahu STRA for their 2020 voter guide is to pull direct quotes by candidates from previous media coverage and other organizations’ guides.
⭐ Tip: You can often find thorough voters guides from REALTORs associations, and many of them may address short-term rentals.
Watch: Top 10 short-term rental advocacy resources and how to use them [Webinar Replay]
The essential components of a short-term rental alliance voter guide
Here are some must-haves for your alliance voter guide:
- Election information: Addresses and hours for polling locations, mail-in ballot options, deadlines for turning in different kinds of ballots, and contact information for the elections office
- Voter registration information: how to register to vote, deadlines to register, and options for same-day registration
- Information on any ballot measures affecting short-term rentals
- Each candidate’s stance on short-term rentals. You can extract this information from:
- A direct quote given to the alliance
- Responses to an alliance questionnaire
- An alliance-hosted event
- Secondary sources, such as quotes from the media, another organization’s voter guide, or recorded events where the candidate might have stated their stance.
Optional sections in your alliance voter guide:
- List or calendar of candidate campaign events
- Ways to volunteer individually for candidate campaigns
Important things to consider before your short-term rental alliance endorses a candidate or contributes financial support to a campaign
Candidate endorsements and financial contributions are part of our democracy but can come with some minefields that warrant careful footing.
- Before endorsing candidates or contributing money or in-kind items to their campaign, be sure to check state and local laws about any restrictions, limitations, or obligations associated with political contributions and endorsements.
- Find out if the candidate would welcome your endorsement or financial support. Some candidates might want to avoid associating their name with a hot topic like short-term rentals during the election – even if they are supportive of your cause. Others may not be accepting campaign contributions at all.
- You also might want to consider what could happen if the candidate you endorse loses. Depending on the situation, it might be best not to choose sides if there’s a chance that could do more harm than good down the road.
Endorsement isn’t the only way to support your favorite candidates. Another option is to volunteer individually for their campaigns.
Informed voters are one of your alliance’s best resources in effecting change at City Hall and working with an open-minded city council. A strong alliance voter guide can help empower them.
Watch: Regulations 101: A primer on how short-term rental rules are made [Webinar Replay]
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