Vote Rev is a Democratic-aligned political action committee (PAC) focused on increasing voter turnout among Democratic-leaning constituencies. ¹

Vote Rev lists MoveOn Civic Action, the Sunrise Movement, and the League of Conservation Voters Victory Fund as some of its partner organizations. Vote Rev also received $200,000 from MoveOn Civic Action and $500,000 from the Democracy PAC during the 2020 presidential election cycle. ^{2 3}

Background

Vote Rev, previously known as VoteTripling.org, is a Democratic-aligned PAC that focuses on developing tactics for voter mobilization, including by enlisting voters to “vote triple” by messaging three friends to remind them to vote. ⁴

Behavioral scientist Robert Reynolds, a graduate of Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, piloted the idea of the “vote tripling” voter mobilization tactic in 2016. After writing an article in the Kennedy School Review titled “How Democrats Can Win in 2018 with Behavioral Science,” Reynolds received seed funding to create Vote Rev. ⁵

Spending

Vote Rev, known then as Vote Tripling, raised just under $5.2 million during the 2020 presidential election cycle. It had a total expenditure amount of just under $3 million, $1,058,953 of which was spent via independent expenditures. All the money spent through independent expenditures went towards helping Democratic Party candidates except $446 which was used against a Republican candidate. ^{6 7}

The organization also spent approximately $3.5 million on “vote tripling” tactics during the week leading up to the 2020 presidential election. ⁸

Funding

During the 2020 presidential election cycle, Vote Rev received donations from multiple left-of-center organizations. Vote Rev received $500,000 from Democracy PAC during the 2020 presidential election cycle and another $1 million in 2021. ^{9 10} Democracy PAC is a super PAC created by George Soros in 2019 for the purpose of influencing the American 2020 presidential election. ^{11 12}

Vote Rev also received $200,000 from MoveOn Civic Action, associated with the website MoveOn.org. MoveOn Civic Action operates as a centralized forum for petitions written by its left-of-center membership, advertises those petitions, coordinates issue advocacy and protests, and gathers donations from its members and from large-scale progressive donors which it uses to support left-wing causes and candidates. ^{13 14}

As of April 4, 2022, Vote Rev had a total expenditure amount of just over $2 million in the 2022 election cycle. Just under $1.7 million of that amount was spent on “transfers to committees.” ¹⁵

Political Activities

Since its creation, Vote Rev has worked exclusively with Democratic Party candidates to improve candidates’ chances of winning elections. During the 2018 midterm election, Vote Rev worked with 26 Democratic Party campaigns. Volunteers would stand outside of polling places and ask people who voted to text three friends to remind them to vote. The volunteers would then record the voters’ cell phone number and the first name of their three friends. Before election day, Vote Rev contacted voters to remind them to message their friends to encourage them to vote. During the election cycle, the organization enlisted more than 18,000 voters to “vote triple.” ^{16 17}

During the 2020 presidential election cycle, Vote Rev, while working with 124 partner organizations, claims to have generated approximately seven million “friend-to-friend reminders.” The partner organizations listed by Vote Rev include MoveOn, the Sunrise Movement, and the League of Conservation Voters Victory Fund. Its “vote tripling” tactic was used by former Vice President Joe Biden’s campaign. ¹⁸

1. ^[1] Rosenberg, Tina. “Hi, There. Want to Triple Voter Turnout?.” New York Times. September 19, 2020. Accessed April 4, 2022. www.nytimes.com/2020/09/19/opinion/voter-turnout-2020-election.html.
2. “2020 Partisan impact.” Vote Rev. September 4, 2022. Accessed April 4, 2022. www.voterev.org/partisan-impact.
3. “Vote Rev Donors 2020.” Open Secrets. Accessed April 4, 2022. https://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/contrib.php?cycle=2020&cmte=C00685628.
4. Rosenberg, Tina. “Hi, There. Want to Triple Voter Turnout?” New York Times. September 19, 2020. Accessed April 4, 2022. www.nytimes.com/2020/09/19/opinion/voter-turnout-2020-election.html.
5. “Power to the People: Robert Reynolds MPP 2015 is using behavioral science to encourage voters to head to the polls.” Harvard Kennedy School. Accessed April 4, 2022. www.hks.harvard.edu/alumni/connect/community-stories/power-people.
6. “Vote Rev Outside Spending 2020.” Open Secrets. Accessed April 4, 2022. https://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/detail.php?cmte=C00685628&cycle=2020.
7. “Vote Rev PAC Profile.” Open Secrets. Accessed April 4, 2022. https://www.opensecrets.org/political-action-committees-pacs/vote-rev-pac/C00685628/summary/2020.
8. ^[1] Bethea, Charles. “A Vote-Tripling Project Is Betting That Non-Voters Will Vote if a Friend Asks Them to.” The New Yorker. November 2, 2020. Accessed April 4, 2022. www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/a-vote-tripling-project-is-betting-that-non-voters-will-vote-if-a-friend-asks-them-to.
9. “Vote Rev Donors 2020.” Open Secrets. Accessed April 4, 2022. https://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/contrib.php?cycle=2020&cmte=C00685628.
10. Schneider, Elena. “Soros pours $125M into super PAC ahead of midterms.” Politico. January 28, 2022. Accessed April 4, 2022. www.politico.com/news/2022/01/28/soros-pours-125m-into-super-pac-ahead-of-midterms-00002847.
11. Severns, Maggie. “Soros launches super PAC for 2020.” POLITICO. July 31, 2020. Accessed April 4, 2022. www.politico.com/story/2019/07/31/soros-launches-super-pac-2020-1442748.
12. “Democracy PAC 2020 Cycle.” ProPublica. Accessed April 4, 2022. https://projects.propublica.org/itemizer/committee/C00693382/2020.
13. “Vote Rev Donors 2020.” Open Secrets. Accessed April 4, 2022. https://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/contrib.php?cycle=2020&cmte=C00685628.
14. “What is MoveOn?.” MoveOn: People-Powered Progress. Accessed April 4, 2022. front.moveon.org/about/.
15. “Vote Rev PAC Expenditures 2022.” Open Secrets. Accessed April 4, 2022. https://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/expenditures.php?cmte=C00685628&cycle=2022.
16. Rosenberg, Tina. “Hi, There. Want to Triple Voter Turnout?” New York Times. September 19, 2020. Accessed April 4, 2022. www.nytimes.com/2020/09/19/opinion/voter-turnout-2020-election.html.
17. “Power to the People: Robert Reynolds MPP 2015 is using behavioral science to encourage voters to head to the polls.” Harvard Kennedy School. Accessed April 4, 2022. www.hks.harvard.edu/alumni/connect/community-stories/power-people.
18. “2020 Partisan impact.” Vote Rev. September 4, 2022. Accessed April 4, 2022. www.voterev.org/partisan-impact.