Primaries are right around the corner which means one thing- GOTV! Getting Out The Vote in primaries is like trying to get your 12 year old kid ready for the first day of school. It's especially hard in Staten Island because it only takes us 324 years (and lots of dough) to commute to our own city. So what are the best ways for campaigns on Staten Island to GOTV?

Several studies have been done examining the different methods, their effectiveness, and the "cost per vote" ratio. Below are what I think the best five methods are to GOTV here on Staten Island:

1. Door knocking - While it can be difficult to find enough door knockers to make a difference, an army of them is truly effective. Face to face contact with someone from a campaign greatly increases the likelihood of that person voting. Only costs incurred is pay for the workers, which can be around $10 - $15 an hour. Since the number of contacts attempted can be much greater than the numbers of contacts actually reached, it's important to target voters when it comes to door knocking.

2. Lawn signs - The more lawn signs you have up, the greater name recognition. The greater name recognition, the more credibility. Make sure you actually place the lawn signs in places where many people can actually see them (I know it seems obvious but you'd be surprised).

3. Door hangers - Same as door knocking minus the face to face interaction but with many more contacts attempted/reached per hour but still, less effective.

4. Absentee ballot registration - Say what?! YES. Absentee ballot registration. It's so simple. Target households with college students, send them a mailer with an absentee ballot attached, and that's it.

5. Ferry & Supermarkets - Showing up at the ferry terminal or Costco doesn't directly affect voter turnout but it does help with name recognition.

When targeting for GOTV, don't aim for people with over an 80% voting probability. Go for voters who are about 50/50 - elections every four years, maybe every two, rarely primaries. They're the ones whose numbers you can dramatically increase.