I went out canvassing yesterday. Joe Biden certainly was just about my last choice, but here we are, and the election is not just about him, it's about the Senate and down ticket house races. It all depends upon getting people to vote.
Here was my process:
I've been texted and emailed by a LOT of different organizations. But I contacted the ward leader and he gave me a list, a yard sign and some literature to hand out or drop/leave.
He also sent me a tutorial youtube video link.
We arranged to meet yesterday at the union hall where they were assigning areas to canvas. Before I did anything, I had to answer a standard Covid-19 questionaire and get my forehead temperature taken.
Next, they gave me the number code to access addresses we'd be canvassing that were listed on the Minivan/NGPVan app. I already had it on my phone from using it the 2018 primary and fall elections. It's up my ward leader didn't do tech like the Minivan app, so, I checked the doors we were to knock on and entered the results of our door knocking for both of us.
Just to be clear, when canvassing, you're only knocking on doors of people known to be Democrats. There's no effort to try to persuade anyone. Besides, finding undecideds is like finding hens' teeth.
I was surprised that at least half the doors knocked on, no-one was home. Of those where someone was home, over half had already voted. I think only two houses said they were voting on election day. The others were going to vote early.
I live in a very diverse neighborhood. The people who opened their doors were, Black, Asian, Hispanic, Muslim and Caucasian. All were friendly.
We shared the list and rotated, taking the next door on it.
When someone wasn't home I had two kinds of literature to leave. One, the old fashioned drop piece with a hold to put on a door knob. The other, a giant post-it sticky note, but that, I felt, only worked if I could put it on the inside door.
We did about two thirds of the names on our list yesterday. My phone's battery ran down to just about zero. The video does suggest we fully charge our phone and bring a portable charger. I started with my phone at 100% but didn't bring a charger.
There are about 15 more names to cover. I'll finish up the rest in the next day or two.
It felt great doing this. Give it a try.
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