Tips from a canvasser on how to be canvassed - or not

Election season can be overwhelming, particularly if you live in an area with a tight race.  I have helped with several campaigns doing phone banks, door-to-door canvassing, and stationary signature collection.  These are four tips that I've come up with based on my interactions with the people I've canvassed.

Vote Early
Obviously this only works in states like Oregon where we have vote by mail.  The sooner you vote, the sooner you'll be taken off the lists of people to be contacted.  It may take a day or two for it to show up in the system, but once you vote we shouldn't bother you anymore.  If you look around a neighborhood that's recently been canvassed you'll see that not all the doors have literature (lit) on them.  This is because we have specific people that we're sent to talk to. 

Answer the door together/leave a note
This one may seem silly, but it works.  Canvassing is almost as much a poll as it is about reminding people to vote, and we can't mark someone's answer unless we actually speak to them ourselves--that is, even if you tell us that your wife is voting the same way as you, we cant mark that answer unless she comes over and tells us herself.  Also, the way that the software that we use works, if we talk to one registered voter in a house, we may still be sent there a couple of days later if we didn't get a survey response from the other voters.  If you've already voted and really don't want any more lit stuck to your door while our system catches up, then you can try and leave a note.  If you want to be extra sure, you can also have all your registered voters sign it so we can mark you as having voted, which should get you off the list even more quickly than voting does.

Realize that we ignore "no solicitors" signs
By law, unless political canvassers are specifically listed as being unwelcome, "no solicitors" signs do not apply to us.  This is because we are not asking for money or selling anything; we are asking for a vote.  Besides which, while most people don't like door-to-door salespeople, many people with such signs are happy to talk to political canvassers.

Be kind
I know that being bombarded with political ads and phone calls is annoying, but remember: canvassers are people, too.  We are often volunteers, and even if we are paid, it still means walking for hours on end through often unpleasant weather.  Even if you don't want to talk to us, a polite refusal is still 1000x better than a slammed door.  I am not calling you or knocking on your door because I want to annoy you.  I do field work because I am passionate about the issues and candidates that I am campaigning for, and because I believe in the critical importance of voting.  I believe that to vote is not just a right; it is a duty and a privilege.  To me, it is almost as important to me that people vote at all as it is that they vote the way that I want them to.  So please, don't be a jerk.