Revealed: The huge number of Aussies who need to be convinced to vote ‘Yes’ for the Voice referendum to win

Anthony Albanese will have to convince at least 1.7 million undecided voters to win the Voice referendum, according to leaked documents.

Volunteers for the Yes campaign will target women, youth, multicultural communities and soft voters to reverse unfavorable polling trends.

The latest polling figures show the Voice to Parliament is on track to be defeated, with the referendum expected to take place on 14 October.

The team behind the Yes campaign is now tasked with convincing at least 38 percent of the 4.6 million voters who still haven’t decided to vote Yes.

The 31-page Yes23 Persuasive Conversations document, obtained by The Australianfeatures new strategies designed to persuade soft voters.

Leaked PowerPoint slides encourage Yes23’s 27,000 volunteers to pick a “bad guy” when speaking to undecided voters, namely mining billionaires who “care more about profit than protecting our country.”

This despite the fact that the big mining companies BP and Rio Tinto support The Voice.

‘Young people are crucial. The largest age category up for grabs is the 18-34 year olds. So are women… 54 percent of those up for grabs are women,” the document said.

‘People who speak a language other than English at home are not addressed on this subject. Opposition in WA is much softer than in other states, so should be a major persuasion priority.”

The PowerPoint slides, which also provide cheat sheets to help Yes23 volunteers defend their point of view, have divided Australian voters into eight categories.

These include skeptical allies (out closet conservatives), cheerleaders (including young female professionals), leaning yes, undecided, leaning no, disengaged, hard no, and culture warriors.

It also provides tips to answer why the Voice is needed now, concerns about the limited detail, and why the Voice is more than just recognition.

Campaigners are advised to adhere to a “positive framing,” with written examples showing how to “confirm, reply, and correct” when speaking to voters, using the Four Rs: Value, Villain, Victory, and Vision .

Volunteers are encouraged to “name the bad guy, or the unfair barrier, including who or what is harming us and why – choose a bad guy that most people dislike or distrust.”

‘The job of a good message is not to say what’s popular. The job of a good message is to popularize what we need,” the document said.

Volunteers will launch a new call this week in four key states; Queensland, Tasmania, South Australia and Western Australia.

A spokesperson for Yes23 said the document was not an official Yes23 document, but would have been prepared by volunteers during training sessions.

“We welcome the enthusiasm of our ever-growing pool of volunteers to educate others on how to engage in conversations with Australians about the importance of a successful ‘Yes’ vote,” the spokesperson told The Australian.

“The efforts and conversations our army of volunteers will have in the coming months will be critical to getting this referendum over the line.”

The Prime Minister will travel to Adelaide on Wednesday where he will officially announce the date of the referendum and launch the Yes campaign in South Australia.

It comes as Mr Albanese hit back at claims that leading members of his own party have raised concerns about the failure of the Voice referendum in WA.

He will support a yes vote in a West Coast speech on Tuesday morning, after Secretary of State Penny Wong and Attorney General Mark Dreyfus spoke at pro-Voice events in Perth this weekend.

Mr Albanese has rejected allegations that senior Western Australian Labor members have expressed concern over the failure of the referendum in their state.

“Nobody says that to me,” he said. “People are positive, people are campaigning and people have formed groups.”

Mr Albanese said those campaigning for a yes vote, including the 2,400 volunteers who took the message directly to 20,000 homes, remain positive.

“The Labor Party, the teals and also the Liberals are reporting the same thing… really positive feedback and big rallies,” he said.

“The feedback from people who have knocked on the door in WA and everywhere else shows the support that is there when people focus on what the question is.”

In a recent poll, Victoria was the only state to support a yes vote.

For the referendum to succeed, it must receive a majority of the national vote and also win at least four of the six states.

Nationally, the No side leads with 47 percent, the Yes side with 43 percent, while 10 percent of people are still undecided.

Mr Albanese said once the date is announced people will take a closer look at the issue of the referendum and what it will mean for Indigenous Australians.

He believes people will then see that it is “a very clear proposition” to recognize that Australia had a rich history long before white settlement.