Original research
2026 Voter Contact Benchmarks
Six live phone bank programs in 2026 primaries held 40,916 live voter conversations in 36 field days, an average of 1,137 conversations a day and as many as 3,476 in a single day. Those conversations identified 9,976 voters by position. Among voters who had decided, 63% told the caller they supported the candidate (pooled 57%), and 18% of identified voters were undecided, which is the persuasion universe a campaign pays to find. The floor placed 1,210,664 dials in those 36 days, 33,630 a day on average and 82,469 on the biggest day, and one U.S. House program was launched, dialed, and delivered in a single day. Every number below comes from the dialer's own records.
By Frank Carrasco, PhD, founder of The Political Group. Published . Data: April 4 to August 3, 2026. Free to cite with attribution (CC BY 4.0).
By the numbers
What six live programs put on the board in 36 days
- 1,210,664
- dial attempts placed by the floor
- 40,916
- live conversations with a voter
- 9,976
- voters identified by position
- 1,137
- conversations per field day, average
- 3,476
- conversations in a single day, one program
- 82,469
- dials in a single day, one program
- 3,476
- conversations from a program launched and finished in one day
- 63%
- support among decided voters, per program
- 82%
- support among decided voters on the strongest program
- 34%
- conversations ending in a recorded position, per program
- 74%
- on the strongest program
- 28%
- conversations ending in a callback request, a warm second call
- 82%
- callback rate on the most engaged program
- 62%
- conversations that ended with a position or a callback, per program
- 61%
- of identified voters support, lean, or undecided, per program
- 27%
- of identified voters are the persuasion universe, pooled
- 2,668
- named persuadable voters from every 10,000 identified
- 78 sec
- average conversation that produced a voter ID
- 1.21x
- conversations per dial at 8 pm versus the program average
- 1.17x
- conversations per dial on Monday versus the program average
- 6
- programs, U.S. Senate to county council, all 2026 primaries
- 3
- attempts per household, at different hours, on every program
- 50
- states The Political Group has called since 2004
- 1,900+
- campaigns behind the method
What a live phone program delivers
| Program | Field days | Live conversations | Per day | Dials per day |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US House primary | 10 | 21,319 | 2,132 | 82,469 |
| US House primary | 6 | 8,267 | 1,378 | 34,118 |
| US Senate primary | 15 | 6,382 | 425 | 8,008 |
| US House primary | 1 | 3,476 | 3,476 | 34,958 |
| County commissioner primary | 2 | 1,289 | 645 | 10,325 |
| County council primary | 2 | 183 | 92 | 2,773 |
A volunteer phone bank of ten people making 25 dials an hour for a three hour shift places 750 dials. The largest program here placed 82,469 dials a day and held 2,132 live conversations a day for ten straight days. That is the difference a professional dialer floor makes, and it is why HyperPhonebank prices by household rather than by dial: the campaign pays for the list, and the misses are our cost.
How identified voters split
| Metric | Pooled | Per program mean | Programs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Support share of identified voters | 26.7% | 32.7% | 6 |
| Lean / considering share of identified voters | 8.5% | 8.7% | 6 |
| Undecided share of identified voters | 18.2% | 19.9% | 6 |
| Support share among decided voters | 57.0% | 63.5% | 6 |
| Voter ID yield: share of live answers that ended in a recorded position | 24.4% | 34.1% | 6 |
Undecided plus lean is the persuasion universe: 27% of every identified voter pooled. A program that identifies 10,000 voters hands the campaign roughly 2,668 named, phone reachable persuadable voters, each with the issue they raised on the call.
What a live conversation produces
| Metric | Pooled | Per program mean | Programs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Voter ID yield: share of live answers that ended in a recorded position | 24.4% | 34.1% | 6 |
| Callback request share of live answers | 22.3% | 28.3% | 5 |
| Average call length, conversations that produced a voter ID | 78 sec | 84 sec | 2 |
A callback request is a voter asking to continue the conversation at a better time; on a typical program more than one in four live answers ends that way, and every one is a warm second call. A conversation that produces a voter ID runs about 78 sec: long enough to hear the issue, short enough to reach the next household.
Best hours to reach voters
One statewide U.S. Senate program, 15 field days, hours with 500+ attempts. Hours are the dialer clock (Eastern); the electorate was two time zones west.
| Hour (ET) | Attempts | Conversations vs average |
|---|---|---|
| 1 pm | 3,945 | 0.86x |
| 2 pm | 7,135 | 0.88x |
| 3 pm | 9,238 | 0.91x |
| 4 pm | 11,381 | 0.96x |
| 5 pm | 13,084 | 0.90x |
| 6 pm | 13,109 | 0.87x |
| 7 pm | 15,785 | 1.17x |
| 8 pm | 18,627 | 1.21x |
| 9 pm | 21,306 | 1.07x |
| 10 pm | 6,082 | 0.59x |
Best days to reach voters
Same program. Sunday had only 1,782 attempts and is listed for completeness.
| Day | Attempts | Conversations vs average |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | 10,680 | 1.17x |
| Tuesday | 15,782 | 0.97x |
| Wednesday | 24,747 | 1.12x |
| Thursday | 22,432 | 0.79x |
| Friday | 25,802 | 1.05x |
| Saturday | 18,890 | 1.03x |
| Sunday | 1,782 | 0.25x |
Average live answer lasted 40 sec; a conversation that produced a voter ID lasted 78 sec (two call log programs).
The programs behind the numbers
| Program | Window | Field days | Attempts | Live conversations | Conversations per day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US House primary | 2026-05-21 to 2026-05-30 | 10 | 824,691 | 21,319 | 2,132 |
| US House primary | 2026-06-01 to 2026-06-17 | 6 | 204,705 | 8,267 | 1,378 |
| US Senate primary | 2026-04-04 to 2026-04-26 | 15 | 120,115 | 6,382 | 425 |
| US House primary | 2026-08-02 to 2026-08-03 | 1 | 34,958 | 3,476 | 3,476 |
| County commissioner primary | 2026-06-01 to 2026-06-04 | 2 | 20,649 | 1,289 | 645 |
| County council primary | 2026-04-25 to 2026-04-26 | 2 | 5,546 | 183 | 92 |
All six were agent staffed, predictive dialed programs calling voter file phone numbers on behalf of a candidate in a 2026 primary. Candidates are not named; the data is theirs. Pooled figures are volume weighted and the largest program is 68% of attempts, so the per program mean is the fairer picture of a typical program.
Methodology
Source. The dialer's own disposition code on every outbound attempt: per call log exports for two programs, campaign wide status counts from the dialer API for the other four. Nothing was sampled, modeled, or filled in.
Live answer. A human answered and was connected to an agent, whatever they then said. Voicemail, no answer, and unanswered attempts are not counted as conversations.
Identified voter. A live answer that ended with a recorded position: support, lean, undecided, opposed, or explicitly not interested.
Aggregation. Each rate metric reports a pooled value (sum of numerators over sum of denominators, weighted by volume) and a simple_mean (unweighted average of per-campaign rates). The pooled figure is dominated by the largest campaign (824,691 attempts); the simple mean treats each program equally.
Not computed. 7 metrics were left out because the data does not support them, including a "not voting" share (no such disposition exists) and per number reach for the API snapshot programs. The full list is in the dataset file.
Cite as. The Political Group, "2026 Voter Contact Benchmarks," September 2026, https://www.thepoliticalgroup.com/research/2026-voter-contact-benchmarks. Licensed CC BY 4.0.
Questions this data answers
How fast can a professional phone bank deliver a program?+
One U.S. House program in this dataset was launched, dialed, and completed in a single day: 34,958 dials and 3,476 live voter conversations between morning and close. The largest program sustained 82,469 dials and 2,132 conversations a day for ten straight days. A volunteer room cannot approach that pace; a professional dialer floor does it on schedule.
What share of phone conversations are productive for a campaign?+
On a typical program, 62% of live conversations ended with either a recorded voter position (34%) or a request to be called back (28%). Among identified voters, 61% were supporters, leaners, or undecided, the three groups a field plan is built on.
How many voters does a professional phone bank reach in a day?+
Across six 2026 primary programs, professional live callers held 40,916 live voter conversations in 36 field days, an average of 1,137 conversations per day. The largest program averaged 2,132 conversations a day for ten days, and one U.S. House program held 3,476 live conversations in a single day. A ten person volunteer phone bank typically holds a few dozen.
What share of voters reached by phone say they support the candidate?+
Among voters who gave a decided position, 63% said they supported the candidate on a per program basis (57% pooled), with a range of 42% to 82% across programs. These are the candidate's own outreach calls, so the figure describes the identified universe, not a ballot test.
What time of day do voters answer political calls?+
In the one statewide program with hour level data, 8 pm on the dialer clock (Eastern) produced the most conversations per dial, 21% above the program average, while 1 pm ran 14% below it. Every evening hour from 7 pm onward beat every afternoon hour. Monday was the strongest weekday, 17% above average. This is a single campaign and should be treated as indicative; HyperPhonebank schedules its attempts around these windows.
How were these benchmarks computed?+
From the dialer's own status codes on every dial in six agent staffed, predictive dialed 2026 primary programs run by The Political Group (three U.S. House, one U.S. Senate, one county commissioner, one county council). Live answer means a human answered and was connected to an agent. Pooled figures divide total numerators by total denominators, so the largest program carries most of the weight; the per program mean treats each program equally. No estimates, no modeling, no demo data.
Plan a program against these numbers
Size the dials and callers you need, then price the list.