NY Ballot Initiative: New Yorkers Against Corruption
Every 20 years, New Yorkers are asked to vote on whether or not to hold a state Constitutional Convention. The process involves voting yes or no on Election Day, then electing statewide delegates to convene. However, a Convention posed serious threats to the rights and protections enshrined in the New York State Constitution, including workers’ rights, pension benefits, civil rights, access to public education, environmental safeguards, and more. Past state Constitutional Conventions were historically costly and led by corrupt elected officials, their lobbyists, and well-funded special interests.
Kivvit helped build and maintain New
Yorkers Against Corruption, a coalition of
over 150 statewide leaders and organizations representing millions of New Yorkers with diverse constituencies across the political spectrum. The coalition ran a multifaceted campaign to educate voters about the destructive impact of a Constitutional Convention and urged them to vote
"No" come Election Day.
The campaign included paid TV advertising, digital, social media, mail, earned media, and GOTV efforts. In just six months the NYAC campaign resulted in over 30,000 GOTV site visits, over 1,200 online vote no pledges, more than 37,000 Facebook fans, nearly 20 million digital impressions, 245,137 complete video views, and hundreds of anti-Convention op-eds or letters to the editor, including a “Vote No” editorial by the New York Times.
At the start of the campaign, public polling indicated New Yorkers favored holding a convention by a 63-24 percent margin. However, utilizing precise targeting and research tested messaging, the coalition was instrumental in defeating a Constitutional Convention with an immense victory of 83% of the vote, and every single county in New York opposing a convention.
Kivvit received several awards for this campaign, including an
AAPC Pollie Gold Award, a Bulldog Silver Award and a Hermes Creative Gold Award. View the NY Ballot Initiative's recent award recognitions here.
