elections

The Case for Virtual Door to Door

With the right tools, candidates can continue to gather petition signatures while doing their part to maintain social distancing. How? By using virtual door-to-door technology and adapting the ask.

Posted on April 9, 2020 by Whitney Wilson

The Case for Virtual Door to Door:
How Using the Technology at Your Disposal Can Save Your Candidacy

There is no other way to say it: these are uncertain times.

In the midst of the COVID-19 crisis, it sometimes seems as though the world has stopped, but in reality, things keep moving. This is still an election year and candidates who already face the challenge of gathering petition signatures are now also dealing with social distancing guidelines.

We need to keep our distance, but candidates who want to be elected to office to help fight this pandemic and all other future challenges still need ballot access.

With the right tools, candidates can continue to gather petition signatures while doing their part to maintain social distancing.

How? By using virtual door-to-door technology and adapting the ask.

Petitions are still a part of campaign life. How, in the age of COVID-19, does a campaign gather the signatures they need? The solutions are the same regardless of what office a candidate is running for.

In Arizona, I worked with a candidate running for state representative. We created a unique walk list enhanced with cell phone numbers and landlines. The candidate gathered petitions, extra unused pens, and lots of hand sanitizer and started virtually “walking” the doors.

Instead of the traditional method of approaching each household, our candidates called the voter on the list from their car and asked if they could come to the door to get the voter’s signature. If a voter was uncomfortable with that, but still wanted to sign the petition, our candidate adapted by:

  • Walking the voter step by step through signing the petition electronically (as allowed by Arizona law);
  • Promising a call back at a more convenient time to walk the voter through signing the petition online; or
  • Leaving the petition clipboard at the door, backing up while the voter came out and signed, and collecting the petitions after the voter went back inside.

Our candidate was successful in collecting petition signatures in excess of what he needed to make the ballot.

As an additional point of contact, our candidate followed up with those who signed the petitions, thanking them for taking the time to sign and encouraging them to check out the campaign website for more information and to stay in touch.

While COVID-19 has changed the way we are living for now, campaigns continue on. Pivoting away from traditional door-to-door efforts to those that work during the pandemic will help campaigns successfully meet their petition gathering goals.

Adapting to virtual campaigning will help campaigns keep marching toward Election Day 2020.

Let the Majority Strategies team of experts help you. Contact us today to get started.