A2: Political Canvassing

In a post on her blog, Sabra Briere reflects on how Ann Arbor Democratic political organizers used to canvass neighborhoods to collect information about voters, and how that process has changed over the years. She writes: “Getting this information required constant work by precinct workers. Volunteers would go door-to-door in the months without an election, and learn whether someone had moved, married, or died. Each resident was asked if he/she was registered to vote, and names were later checked off against a list of known voters. Each resident was asked about party preference: ‘are you a Democrat, Republican or Independent? If an Independent, are you more likely to vote Democratic or Republican?’ (This is all pre-computer, when we were still using stone tablets and chisels, mind, but even primitive tools work.)” [Source]