How To Use Walk Packets

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HOW TO…..effectively use walk packets.

You used the query tools of webElect to find your target voter group and you created walk packets with maps and voter lists. Now it’s time to get out on the street and knock on some doors.

One of the biggest benefits of using a walk list is that you and your volunteers know who you will talk to before they answer the door. This allows you to make your visit to the voter’s home as effective as possible in the short amount of time you have to spend with them. It makes it easier to ask for the voter’s support when you can address them in a more personal matter. Along with knowing their first and last name, you will also have the names of any other voters in the household and be able to see each person’s party affiliation and scOracle™ voter score. Regardless of who answers the door, you can make a good first impression. You can also make sure you talk to the most consistent voter in the house. And if your campaign received a contribution from someone at the house, it will be indicated on the list so you can offer a personal ‘Thank you’, and know that they are already a supporter. This is using the walk list pro-actively.

For example, your walk list may show a household with the following residents:

  • Betty Smith, Age: 75, Republican, scOracle: P-96 G-98 (P=Primary, G=General)
  • John Harris, Age: 51, Republican, scOracle: P-85 G-92
  • Diana Harris, Age: 48, Republican, scOracle: P-88 G-95
  • Jennifer Harris, Age: 23, NPA (No Party Affiliation), scOracle: P-00 G-65

In this case, you can deduce that John and Diana are a married couple and their daughter is living at home. Betty is probably Jennifer’s maternal grandmother. Reading further into the data, you can see the daughter has not declared a party and is the least consistent voter. Because of her NPA status, she is not eligible to vote in a primary election. Her low score indicates she also is not as reliable has her parents and grandmother for general elections. Therefore, if a college-aged girl answers the door, you could ask if she is Jennifer Harris, and then ask if her grandmother or her parents are home. This would be especially wise if you are campaigning for a primary election since the daughter cannot vote in the primary.

The walk list is even more useful as a “reactive” document by using it for data collection while campaigning. Each meeting with a potential voter is a chance to learn something about them. Voter information is compiled in webElect during your fundraising and months of campaigning for use to incrementally increase your campaign's efficiency and effectiveness.

The walk list form is designed for capturing this information. To the side of each name on the list are the letters “S”, “O”, “U”, and “NH”. Theses letters stand for SUPPORT, OPPOSE, UNDECIDED, and NOT HOME. The letters are here for your volunteers to circle as they make the rounds and greet your targeted voters. Knowing who your campaign supporters are and who is not likely to vote for you is valuable information to your campaign in a number of ways to be explained later.

There is also room next to each name for making any useful notes about the household. In some cases you may not even need to meet the person to get some useful information - - information that can be used to win their support on Election Day. For example, if there is a car in the front drive with a Florida Gators license plate, and a welcome mat that says UF, when the homeowner comes to the door, you might ask if he/she went to school at the University of Florida. If this is the case, you (or your volunteer) will make a note like “UF Alumni” in the area provided next to their name. This information will be used later when you enter your collected walk list data into the database.

If the car has a parking sticker for one of the local hospitals in the window, you might ask if the voter is involved in healthcare. If so, then make a note such as “nurse at County Hospital”, or “surgical tech”, or “pharmacist”. All of the extra information you and your volunteers collect will be used in the “Groups” feature of webElect to further strengthen your campaign in the months and weeks leading up to Election Day.

The key point to remember with walk lists, is to collect as much information as you can from each voter. Make sure your team of volunteers understands this as well.