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Canvassing is the systematic initiation of direct contact with a target group of individuals commonly used during political campaigns. A campaign team (and during elections a candidate) will knock on doors of private residences within a particular geographic area, engaging in face-to-face personal interaction with voters. Canvassing may also be performed by telephone, where it is referred to as telephone canvassing. The main purpose of canvassing is to perform voter identification – to poll how individuals are planning to vote – rather than to argue with or persuade voters.[1] This preparation is an integral part of a 'get out the vote' operation, in which known supporters are contacted on polling day and reminded to cast their ballot.
Similar techniques may be used by non-governmental organizations, labor unions, religious denominations such as the Jehovah's Witnesses, poll takers, and even commercial enterprises such as door-to-door salespeople.
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The above qualification notwithstanding, canvassing may be performed to achieve a combination of the following objectives. For example, a canvass focused on persuading people to vote for a particular candidate or ballot issue may also solicit funds and sign up new members to an organization:
A key concept in canvassing is to target the population that is being contacted. For example, if the goal of a canvass is to turn out voters on election day for a Democratic candidate, then knocking on Republican doors may not be a great use of time and resources. Targeting can be quite complex and sophisticated and may employ voting history data, census data, and consumer habits. Part of an overall field strategy may be to do a canvass focussed on identifying likely supporters who will then be approached at a later date by another canvass for GOTV. Even if sophisticated data is not available, most field operations professionals will spend energy trying to reduce randomness in their contacts in an attempt to optimize their use of time and resources.
While converting voters would ideally be a central goal, it is difficult, requiring knowledgeable and charismatic canvassers, and time-consuming. To reach every voter in a district a canvasser cannot spend more than one or two minutes per person, rarely enough time to have a significant discussion. Persuasion canvassing will often involve the dropping of literature and campaign marketing materials like lawn signs, window signs, and bumper stickers (given to supporters). As canvassers work a population they will often make careful notes and use classification codes to record their interaction with the public.
Field canvasses are done by going door to door to every home and apartment in a district, a ZIP code or some other unit of geographic measurement. They have the advantage that people are generally more open to talking to someone in person and literature can be delivered and lawn signs put up at the same time as the canvass. A field canvass can also guarantee completeness as each house can be accounted for. A field canvass is usually done by one or two individuals, either both at one door, or one on each side of the street.
For Contractors utilizing "Field Canvassing" it works best when working around a current or previous jobsite. Otherwise called Jobsite Radiation.
On election day itself a Party will often visit the homes of known supports asking them to vote, this process is often referred to as 'Knocking up'.
A variation of the field canvass is a candidate canvass; these are done with the actual candidate in a district. With only one candidate, however, time is a valuable commodity. The candidate is thus usually accompanied by a half dozen or more volunteers who knock on doors. If they find no one home, the candidate does not go to that home. If they find a person, the volunteer finds out if they would like to meet the candidate. If they would, the volunteer signals the candidate.
Canvassing can also be done by telephone by activists who will be working from a script. The following is an excerpt from a script used by the UK Labour Party in the build up to a general election:
The script then divides into two sections based on whether the voter intends to support Labour or another party. The section for Labour supporters encourages the use of postal votes, asks whether the individual would consider displaying a poster in their window or deliver leaflets on their street and asks whether the individual would consider joining the party.[2] The section for non-Labour voters asks the following questions:[2] This sample script is also representative of elections in the United States, in which a volunteer might ask, "if the election for (congress, governor, president, etc) were held today, would you vote for (Candidate A) or (Candidate B)?
The script concludes by thanking the voter before ending the call.
While canvassing is often performed by unpaid volunteers, many organizations and campaigns may also hire paid canvassers. This allows organizations to reach a larger number of people by hiring and training a dependable staff. While many organizations recognize the importance of paid canvassers, usually they are not paid a living wage. Job security may also be limited by short canvass cycles, often taking place before elections or in months with uncomfortable weather. Some organizations, such as the AFL-CIO, may have year-round, permanent canvassing offices. Depending on the difficulty of the required tasks and the level of pay, these positions often have a high turnover rate. Some employees of advocacy groups and political campaigns may be required to canvass as part of their larger job requirements, in order to supplement canvassing staff. However, some individuals do work full-time as canvassers. Some canvassers, including those employed by the Fund for the Public Interest, have been blocked in their attempts to unionize in order to receive better wages and benefits. Other groups such as Connecticut Citizen Action Group are unionized shops that include their canvass into the bargaining unit.
While canvassing can be productive, it also is likely to frustrate many would-be voters. If constituents are contacted too often, they may feel that their privacy is threatened. The fact that annoyed constituents lash out at canvassers is a reason to the high turnover rate for canvassing positions. Canvassers are informed during initial training that "No Soliciting" signs hold no legal power in most communities, and canvassers are taught to ignore such signs.
While ignoring "No Soliciting" signs may make sense from a political and legal standpoint, some constituents are offended by canvassers disregard for posted "rules". A combination of too much contact and disregard for social rules can lead to many would-be voters choosing not to vote or even voting for a less annoying political party or individual.
Some areas have a low density of targets. Campaigns will typically try to canvass higher density areas by foot, but lower density areas may require canvassers with cars or for the campaign to skip those areas altogether. The standard measure of canvass target density used by campaigns is the Stoddard, or targets per acre. Typically campaigns will try to canvass areas with a Stoddard of 10 or higher.