Canvassing

Canvassing is the systematic initiation of direct contact with individuals commonly used during political campaigns. Campaigners will knock on doors or make telephone calls to engage in a personalized contact with an individual. It is used by political parties and issue groups to identify supporters, persuade the undecided, add voters to the voters list through voter registration, and it is central to get out the vote operations. It is the core element of what political campaigns call the ground game or field.

Organized canvassing became a central tool of contested election campaigns in Britain, and has remained a core practice performed by thousands of volunteers each election there, and in many of the countries descended from its political system. It is less common in campaigns of Continental Europe or the democracies of East Asia.

Practice

A modern election canvass is conducted either by a candidate, volunteers, or by paid canvassers. The canvassers are given lists known as canvass sheets or in the UK as reading pads. These are a list of households to be contacted, generated from a voter database. Some campaigns today have replaced paper sheets with tablet or smartphone apps.

Canvassing (Parks and Recreation)

"Canvassing" is the second episode of the first season of the American comedy television series Parks and Recreation. It originally aired on NBC in the United States on April 16, 2009. The episode was written by Rachel Axler and directed by Seth Gordon. In the episode, Deputy Director of Parks and Recreation Leslie and her staff canvas the neighborhood to seek support for an upcoming town meeting on their park proposal but end up drawing more critics than allies.

The episode was originally supposed to be the third episode of the series, but the broadcast order was changed and "Canvassing" was switched with "The Reporter". The episode received generally mixed reviews. According to Nielsen Media Research, "Canvassing" was watched by 5.92 million households in its original airing, which media outlets said was commendable, although it was about 900,000 less households than the pilot episode received the previous week. "Canvassing" and the rest of the first season of Parks and Recreation was released on DVD in the United States on September 8, 2009.

Canvassing (disambiguation)

Canvassing may refer to: