Editing Canvassing (section)

{{Short description|Systematic initiation of direct contact with individuals}}
{{for|the Wikipedia guideline|Wikipedia:Canvassing|selfref=true}}
{{about|the systematic intiation of direct contact|other uses}}
{{redirect|Canvass|the fabric|Canvas|other uses|Canvas (disambiguation)}}
{{redirect|Door-knocking|the device activity|door knocker}}
[[File:Bill George canvassing 2008.jpg|thumb|Pennsylvania [[AFL-CIO]] President [[Bill George (labor activist)|Bill George]] door-to-door canvassing for Obama in 2008]]
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2024}}

[[File:Canvassing.jpg|thumb|250px|British politician [[Jack Straw]] (on the right with a red [[Rosette (politics)|rosette]]) canvassing with local councilors in [[Blackburn]], Lancashire, in 2008]]
{{Political campaigning}}

'''Canvassing''', also known as '''door knocking''' or '''phone banking''', is the systematic initiation of direct contact with individuals, commonly used during [[political campaign]]s. Canvassing can be done for many reasons: political campaigning, grassroots fundraising, community awareness, membership drives, and more.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://blog.organizer.com/what-is-canvassing|title=What is Canvassing?|last=James-Harvill|first=Jordan|access-date=June 30, 2017|language=en|archive-date=July 3, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170703020714/http://blog.organizer.com/what-is-canvassing|url-status=live}}</ref> Campaigners knock on doors to contact people personally. Canvassing is used by political parties and issue groups to identify supporters, persuade the undecided, and 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 political canvassing became a central tool of contested election campaigns in Britain, and has remained a core practice performed by thousands of volunteers at each election there, and in many countries with similar political systems.

Canvassing can also refer to a neighborhood canvass performed by law enforcement in the course of an investigation. This is a systematic approach to interviewing residents, merchants, and others who are in the immediate vicinity of a crime and may have useful information.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Criminal Investigation, 8/e|last1=Swanson|last2=Chamelin|last3=Territo|first1=Charles R|first2=Neil C|first3=Leonard|publisher=McGraw Hill}}</ref>

In the United States, the compilation of election returns and validation of the outcome that forms the basis of the official results is also called canvassing. <ref name="EAC">{{Cite web |title=CANVASSING AND CERTIFYING AN ELECTION |url=https://www.eac.gov/sites/default/files/eac_assets/1/6/EMG_chapt_13_august_26_2010.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220409154419/https://www.eac.gov/sites/default/files/eac_assets/1/6/EMG_chapt_13_august_26_2010.pdf |archive-date=April 9, 2022 |website=EAC.gov}}</ref>