Why candidates still knock on doors asking for support
Provincial election candidates say the most basic form of voter contact is the best
The heat of an unseasonably warm May afternoon isn't stopping Searle Turton from running door to door in the Willow Park neighbourhood of Stony Plain.
The UCP candidate for Spruce Grove-Stony Plain is clad in shorts and a T-shirt, carrying a stack of campaign flyers in a bag with a strap that crosses his torso.
Turton bounds up another doorstep as his volunteers keep track of each address using a smartphone app.
The candidate introduces himself and makes his pitch.
"I'm just out and about saying hi to yourself and the rest of the neighbours and seeing if perhaps I can count on your support in the upcoming election here this spring?"
The man says Turton has his vote.
"Thank you so much," the candidate replies. "Take care!"
As he runs down the driveway, Turton calls out an update to his volunteers.
"Supporters," he says.
Although the campaign officially started on May 1, candidates from all parties and all areas of the province have been knocking on doors for months in advance of the fixed May 29 election date.
Willow Park is where Turton and his volunteers first started canvassing in January. He's now starting his second round of door-knocking in hopes of finding people he missed.
"I love door-knocking. I love chatting with people at their doorstops," Turton said.
"For many individuals, the only time they actually come face to face with their elected officials or candidate is at their door."
Get out the vote
Door-knocking isn't just a way to get out a candidate's message — it also helps campaigns locate their supporters and add them to their database. Volunteers tap into this crucial information as election day approaches. They call supporters to ask whether they've voted, if they plan to vote and where.
In an election where polls suggest support for the UCP and NDP is evenly split, races for seats could be determined by a handful of votes. The campaign strategy known as "get out the vote," or GOTV, is more crucial than ever.
Mandi Johnson is a former UCP chief of staff who is now a senior campaign strategist with Crestview Strategy. She has run campaigns for more than a decade.
Johnson said campaigns have a number of ways to reach potential voters, but door-to-door canvassing is still the best.
"More and more people aren't answering their phones for unknown numbers. They ignore texts," Johnson said.
"They don't come to community events or town halls, so your best bet is to to meet them where they are."
Talking face to face can also convey critical campaign information, she added.
"Not just by the words, but by body language," she said. "So it's a really good way to measure your support level."
Turton comes across one man who politely says he couldn't vote for the UCP. But the candidate has better luck at other homes down the street.
Ian Blicq says he supports Turton, and doesn't mind when candidates come to the door.
"If I've got questions, I can ask the questions when they're standing here."
Putting a face to the name
Rhiannon Hoyle has knocked on thousands of doors over the past two years.
Hoyle ran for Edmonton city council in the 2021 election, losing by 33 votes to Jennifer Rice in Ward Ipiihkoohkanipiaohtsi.
Hoyle is now the NDP candidate in Edmonton-South. Before an Oilers game starts one evening, she and her volunteer co-ordinator Liz Dolcemore head to the Rutherford neighbourhood for some door-knocking.
Hoyle approaches Prijitta and Gautom Bardoloi while they're out on their driveway. She tells them she has lived in the Rutherford neighbourhood for 18 years and has been involved with the area's community league.
The couple agrees to put one of Hoyle's campaign signs on their lawn.
Gautom Bardoloi says he and his wife don't vote by party. They prefer to assess each candidate before casting their ballots.
Both add they liked having a candidate come to their home.
"Now we have a face to the name," Prijitta Bardoloi says. "And also looks like she's very approachable."
Not everyone is open to hearing Hoyle's pitch. A few doors down, a man takes her campaign flyer but politely turns her away.
At other homes, Hoyle doesn't get an answer. She writes, "Sorry I missed you" on a flyer and slides it into the door frame.
Hoyle said she likes that door-knocking allows her to pitch her message directly to voters without all the noise of the campaigns.
"Because of all the access we have, it can be confusing for folks, and this really kind of simplifies that," she said. "It also cuts through maybe any misinformation."
Turton believes door-knocking will always be a critical part of campaigns despite all the technology available to candidates.
He said people feel a need to connect after isolation and virtual meetings during the COVID-19 pandemic, and door knocking brings humanity back to politics.
"Get away from that depersonalization of Facebook and Twitter," he said.
"Create face to face conversations looking someone in the eye, finding out their hopes and dreams about how their community could be made a better place."
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
