A lot of candidates will tell you that money is your campaign’s most important resource. Having more funds certainly makes things easier, but TIME is the great equalizer in any campaign. When it’s gone, it’s gone — and all the money in the world can’t buy you another day of voter contact. When managed properly, and with good planning, time will be your greatest asset.
Every year, each state produces an election calendar with events set by state law. And while some states do things differently than others and with primaries or caucuses on different dates, they all typically follow the same process. For example, in PA, nomination petitions can’t be circulated earlier than 13 weeks before the primary and they must be finalized no later than 10 weeks before the primary. That means, as a candidate in PA, you have just 3 weeks to circulate petitions and get all the signatures you need to qualify for the ballot. Typically those dates occur toward the end of winter and gathering petition signatures in the snow can make finding volunteers a difficult challenge. Fall short on signatures, and you’re not a candidate. Turn in petitions late and you’re not a candidate.
Similarly, voting requirements have very little wiggle room. Absentee ballots need to be turned in by a certain date – if they’re not – those votes don’t count. I’ve worked on races that were decided by just a handful of votes and had just a few people decided to turn their ballots in late (or not at all) those races might have gone another way.
My point is, the election calendar is the one thing by which every candidate must abide. It doesn’t matter if you’re running for school director in a town of 500 people or if you’re running for President of the United States — we all follow the same rules, turn in paperwork by the same dates, and vote at the same time. Running afoul of official rules and deadlines and you can find your candidacy invalidated and your name stripped from the ballot.
So, before starting your race, make sure to download your state’s election calendar and double check the deadlines for various tasks you’ll need to complete. You can use our calendar creation worksheet to keep track some of the suggested dates for your race, keep track of the time between events, and know when important political deadlines are approaching.
Election calendar worksheet
Calculate and Track Important Election Dates for Your Campaign
Searching for Your State’s Election Calendar
Election dates are usually enshrined in state law and administered by the Secretary of State through its elections board. To start, visit your secretary of state’s website or run a web search for:
“[insert year] [insert state name] election calendar.”
Like this:
”2024 Pennsylvania election calendar”
The top result for that search is PA’s official page with important dates for the 2024 Pennsylvania elections in table format. It looks like this:
On that page, you’ll also find a downloadable PDF calendar with important dates, upcoming elections, special elections, and other helpful voting links. Your state will have a similar page and a similar PDF available for download.
Some states include much more info than others, and a 20 page election calendar is not unheard of. There are a few dates that you’ll really need to focus on, and we recommend a few of them in the Election Calendar Worksheet. Download it here and use it as a guide to fill in those dates in your state and for the year in which you are running.
Election Calendar Dates to Focus On
When you’re starting out, pay close attention to dates related to petition circulation or any requirements you must fulfill to get on the ballot. Remember, you’re not an official candidate until you get on the ballot, no matter how much money you raise or how many volunteers sign up to help.
If your state has a primary or caucus that will determine who gets to appear on the ballot for the general election, you’ll want to pay close attention to those dates too. Much of the early activity of your campaign will be focused on doing what is necessary to win that primary and continue on to the general.
Of course you’ll want to track the general election date too. This is usually a single day in November, but, some states hold runoff elections that can happen after the general depending on how many votes are tallied for each candidate during the general. Again, that information will be supplied in your state’s election calendar information.
A good election calendar will list the following dates:
- Petition circulation dates
- Registration dates (for primary or caucuses and general elections)
- Voter registration deadlines
- Absentee ballot deadlines (application and actual voting)
- Military or overseas voting deadlines
- Early voting dates (mail-in or in-person voting)
- Dates and times that ballot drop-off locations are available, if any.
- Election dates (primary, caucus, general, runoffs, etc.)
Once you’ve got the important dates, record them on your worksheet and keep them handy. Circulate the dates to volunteers, family members, and helpers to make sure they’re aware of relevant deadlines.
Using the Election Calendar to Calculate Time You Have to Complete Important Campaign Activities
The election calendar worksheet allows you to enter these dates and then it calculates the time between the dates so you know exactly how much time you have to complete each task. This is particularly helpful when scheduling volunteer shifts.
For example, in PA, candidates have 3 weeks to complete nomination petitions to get on the primary ballot. If you’re running for county judge, you need 500 signatures. The goal should be to get at least 20% – 50% more than are required so any potential opponent would have a hard time challenging your signatures and getting you thrown off the ballot. So, in this case, you’d be looking to get at least 600-750 signatures. You’ve got 21 days to collect them, or 35 signatures per day. At a collection rate of 10 signatures per hour, you’re looking at around 3 hours of work each day or a total of 75 hours canvassing for signatures. If you’re working a 9-5 job while campaigning, collecting signatures might be a tough endeavor. So you recruit volunteers. A typical 2-hour shift per volunteer would require around 35-37 volunteers shifts. If you could generate 10 volunteers, each would have to do 1 shift a week for those three weeks. Distributing the work among many helpers can get the job done while giving you time to concentrate on other important campaign activities like message development or fundraising.
After you develop your win number and vote get goals for each precinct, you’ll use the election calendar to determine how much time you have between the date when petition circulation end and the date of the primary. You’ll do a similar work-effort calculation. For example, if your research suggests you need 5,000 votes to win and you’ve got 5 months to contact voters, you need to identify 1,000 likely voters per month and you can schedule your campaign activities accordingly. If after 3 months, you’ve identified 7,500 likely votes you are in good shape. But if you’ve only identified 2,000 votes you may need to double the effort with the remaining time or you might find success in the primary just out of your grasp.
Penalties for Not Following the Election Calendar
When petition signatures get challenged, it’s done in court. When an opponent tries to have you disqualified based on eligibility requirements, it’s done in court. Election cases will take priority over other cases because of their time sensitivity, but, historically, there is little wiggle room for those who don’t follow the rules. Turning in your petitions late will likely result in disqualification. Turning in too few signatures will result in disqualification. The point is — follow the rules and stick to the election calendar.
Summary
Understanding the important election dates in your state, and for your race, is one of earliest tasks you’ll complete during your campaign. Use the Election Calendar Worksheet to keep track of dates and to calculate the time you have for certain campaign activities.
With some planning and diligence during the early parts of your campaign, you’ll have more than enough time to complete all the necessary tasks, and, hopefully, enough support to help you get things done when time gets tight.
