Precinct
canvassing
- “Canvassing”
means identifying voters (see Voter Identification Matrix on the next
page).
- Our goal is to identify every
voter in every precinct.
- Most voters who always vote
Republican can be identified through VAN.
- Blockwalk
or call to ask the remaining voters in your precinct directly.
- Ask each voter:
- Do you plan to vote in
November 2008? (yes, no, or not sure)
- Do you plan to vote
Republican or Democratic? (Republican, Democratic, or depends on
the candidate)
- (At Democratic households
only) Does anyone living here need to register to vote? (Must be a citizen,
at least age 17 years and 10 months)
- Use your walk list to record
or correct information.
- Keep notes to indicate:
- Phone number
- E-mail addresses (if we can
get them)
- Houses for sale or rent
- New residents
- If they are Democrats,
hand them a voter registration card. If they are Republicans...
thank them and say Good-bye!
- Candidate signs visible in
yard
- Bumper stickers that
indicate party affiliation
- Disability: wheelchair
ramp, license plate
- Do they need a ride to the
polls?
- Do they need an application
to vote by mail? (disability, or over age 65)
- Union members
- Military
- Students
- Avoid contacting this voter
in the future?
- We will enter the information
that you collect into the Voter Activation Network (VAN). This will help
us when we target voters for persuasion (mid-summer), displaying candidate
signs (August), and get-out-the-vote (October).
This
handout has been prepared by the Precinct Chair Recruitment Committee of the
Bexar County Democratic Party.
The
Voter Identification Matrix
|
|
Always
votes Democratic
|
Swing
voter
|
Always
votes Republican
|
|
Always votes
|
C
(potential team member?)
|
D
(persuasion)
|
B
|
|
Sometimes votes
|
E
(GOTV)
|
F
(persuasion
and GOTV)
|
B
|
|
Never votes
|
A
|
A
|
A
and B
|
- Don't target for persuasion
or GOTV:
A. People who will never
vote
B. People who always vote Republican
C. People who always vote, and always vote Democratic (but we can
recruit them to help us!)
D. Swing voters who always
vote (for persuasion)
E. Democrats who only vote sometimes (for GOTV)
F. Swing voters who only vote sometimes (second persuasion)
- Every voter can be placed on
this tic-tac-toe grid.
- Our priority in the first
half of the summer will be to contact every voter in our precinct and
identify where they fit on the grid.
- We can supplement the
information you collect with the Voter Activation Network (VAN)
information, which includes the voting history for each registered voter.
This
handout has been prepared by the Precinct Chair Recruitment Committee of the
Bexar County Democratic Party.