The Vermont Secretary of State’s Office recommended a deadline of Oct. 24 for people to get their ballots to the post office, and now political campaigns and candidates are adjusting their messaging in the final push before the Nov. 3 election.

With ballots sent to all active voters in Vermont, candidates have concentrated on making sure people understood how to cast ballots, with an emphasis on getting it done by this weekend.

Now campaigns are switching focus, targeting undecided voters who have still not sent in their ballot ahead for the November election.

“You want as many people to vote as possible, especially people you think are going to vote for you,” said Jason Maulucci, Republican Gov. Phil Scott’s campaign manager.

“We’re focused on those who still have a ballot and are pushing to get as many of them to send those in as soon as possible because those who do, that’s a vote in the bank,” he said.

Maulucci said candidates should have a good idea about who has still not voted and will be able to focus on that segment of the population.

“We’re just focusing on making sure people understand their options,” he said.

Colleen Jackson, deputy campaign manager for Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman’s gubernatorial effort, said after this weekend there will be a definite change in the messaging from the Progressive Democrat’s team.

“Everything that we’ve been saying up until now has been ‘mail your ballots back’ and now we’re going to shift dramatically into ‘drop your ballots off,’” Jackson said.

“We need to be saturating lines of communication so people understand that shift,” she said.

Spencer Dole, who heads the House campaigns for the Vermont Democratic Party, said with Oct. 24 come and gone, “the messaging then turns to ‘fill out your ballot and hand-deliver it to your town clerk’s office before Nov. 2 or vote on Election Day.”

As of mid-day on Monday, more than 204,000 Vermonters have already voted, according to a news release from Secretary of State Jim Condos.

That’s about 64% of the 320,467 votes cast in the 2016 presidential election.

Dole and others view this as an opportunity to reach undecided voters given that more than a third have yet to vote.

“Candidates have been chasing votes and ballots since they were first sent out and will continue chasing up until Nov. 3,” he said. “The strategy doesn’t change after Oct. 24; candidates are still chasing ballots, it’s just that the messaging is different.”