Canvass Results


What is a Canvass Result? 

Canvass results are marked in MiniVAN/Open virtual phone bank/on paper when you attempt to speak to a targeted voter on your list. Canvass Results fall into 2 categories:

  • Canvassed - Responded to survey question
  • Non-Canvassed -  Did not respond to a survey question


What is a Suppression?

Suppressions are a tool on “Make A List” in VAN that can be used to include or exclude individuals based on certain criteria (e.g., deceased, moved, etc.)


What does it mean for a voter to be marked CANVASSED?

A voter is automatically marked as Canvassed if they answered a Survey Question(s) and/or Activist Code(s) during direct contact (e.g. phone, walk, text)


What are the different types of Canvass Results and how do they affect Suppressions?


Canvass Result

Meaning

Affecting Suppressions?

(Some canvass results will impact default suppressions, but others will not)

 Moved (MV)

The person no longer resides at the listed address.

If a new address is collected and a survey question is answered, please do not mark Moved. Enter a new address instead and mark the appropriate survey questions.

Yes - Marks the current primary/voting address as bad, marks across all committees



Deceased (DC, XX, or DEAD)

The person has passed away. DC does not stand for Declined or Disconnected. If you ever see it marked more than once on a single call sheet, check with the person who made the calls – this response is rare, and entering questionable deceased responses should be avoided.

Yes - Marks the person as 

deceased across all committees



Do Not Call/Do Not Email/Do Not Mail/Do Not Text/Do Not Walk

When you think that no campaign should ever contact them via that method, marks as such for all committees. Currently only available at TDP level.  

Yes - Marks this across committees

 Wrong Number (WN)

The caller is told the listed person is not at the number.

No - But, still suppressed in the manner of: marks the number number + person combination from Texting / Virtual Phone Bank as bad for all committees permanently unless restored manually on a person’s/voter’s profile record

 Disconnected (DSC or WX)

If the number is disconnected or not in service.

No - But, still functionally suppressed in that: the number + person combination from Texting / Virtual Phone Bank as bad for all committees permanently unless restored manually on a person’s/voter’s profile record

Canvassed

Will be automatically marked if the Voter answered a Survey Question(s) and/or Activist Code(s) during direct contact (e.g. phone, walk, text).

If you want someone to NOT be marked as canvassed but receive notes on MiniVAN, mark them Not Home first

No

Call Back (CB)

Someone answered; the person on the list was not available to speak at the time.

No

 Not Home (NH)

The person was not home, did not speak on the phone or there was no answer. When blockwalking, make sure to mark everyone in the household on your list not home if no one answers.


 Spanish (SP)

The person does not speak English, but states that they speak Spanish.

No

Left Message (LM)

In most cases it's better to move on and call the next person rather than leave a message, but they should be left when making confirmation calls for an event.


Inaccessible (IN)

If you were physically unable to reach the door due to factors out of your control (notation/barrier) – for example, the door was in a gated community. 

No

Busy (BZ)

Busy signal when the call is placed.

No

Refused (RF)

The person on your list refuses to answer your questions.

Do not mark this if someone else says the person refuses, if you do not identify who picked up, or if someone hangs up without answering. Saying no to a volunteer is best marked by a "Volunteer: No" survey response.

No

Other Language (LG)

The person states that they don’t speak English or Spanish.

No

No Contact

When there was not contact (e.g., uploading list of supporters)

No

Non-Citizen


No

Commercial


No


Suppressions


Using Suppressions

  • Open “Create a New Search” Screen
  • Find the Suppressions on this “Other Search Criteria”

 

  • Click on Suppressions and the screen below will appear. You then check boxes to decide who should be included in your list you are generating. 
  • By checking or unchecking certain boxes, certain people will be excluded or included on your list. See definitions to understand what each of these mean.


What does each Suppression mean?

  • GOOD VOTING ADDRESS - An address that is not marked bad
  • BAD VOTING ADDRESS - An address that has been marked bad. When a person has been marked as MOVED as a Canvass Result, their voting address is marked as bad, this goes across all committees
  • GOOD MAILING ADDRESS - A mailing address that is not marked bad
  • NCOA MAILING ADDRESS - National Change of Address (NCOA) is a registry of people who move or otherwise change their address in the United States. Use of NCOA is required in order to obtain bulk mail rates, as it minimizes the number of misaddresses and eases the job of the postal service.  Not to be confused with “USPS Verified Only” addresses for mail-delivery. If the record is flagged as an NCOA record, that voter may no longer live in the same district or state, the goes across all committees
  • BAD MAILING ADDRESS - A mailing address that has been marked bad, this goes across all committees, this will happen when a user gets back a mailed object return to sender and then marks that address with a contact of one of the following contact types and one of these contact results: _________________ (currently researching for confirmation)
  • EXCLUDE DECEASED - Removes voters who have been marked as DECEASED, this goes across all committees


List Cleaning

To manage Addresses...

  • Find Addresses on this “Other Search Criteria” list screen shown below.
  • Then, select under the Addresses section from the following check boxes located at the bottom of the screenshot shown below:
    • Walkable Houses
    • PO Boxes
    • USPS Verified Only 
    • In-State Mailing Addresses Only
    • Geocoded Only 


  • To see the definition of these options, look at the following section on List Cleaning - Mail, Doors on the VAN Help Wiki’s “Suppressions” Wiki (you can get to the VAN Help Wiki by logging into VAN and clicking on “Help Wiki” in the top right corner:


List Cleaning - Mail, Doors

  • WALKABLE HOUSES – We validate all addresses against the USPS database, and the USPS has some notion of if a house is walkable or not. Walkable addresses are usually ones that the USPS defines as street-level with less than three addresses.
  • PO BOXES – Addresses that are post office boxes. These are not walkable, obviously, nor are they voting addresses.
  • USPS VERIFIED ONLY – These addresses have been verified as a deliverable address by the United States Postal Service—important to use for generating mailing lists to minimize the occurrences of mail to bad addresses. This can save campaigns money.
  • IN-STATE MAILING ADDRESSES ONLY – Could be redundant, but saves you a step when creating a list. You do not have to use the locations module. It’s also good for narrowing or removing Democrats Abroad or Absentee Voters from lists.
  • GEOCODED ONLY – These addresses can be mapped. You can only cut turf with geocoded addresses.