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In the US, every little district has several public positions which are filled by electing candidates. So you want to be elected Judge, County Commissioner or Sheriff in your community? Drawing from my intimate knowledge of local elections from a recent internship at the Democratic Party Office in a county in Michigan, here is what you need to know to start canvassing.

Canvassing – the art of getting from door to door and handing out leaflets or speaking to your voters – will be central to your campaign, since you can’t afford radio or tv ads or direct mailing. Today, we will focus on putting your marvellously designed leaflets under people’s doorhandles. Let’s go!

1 – Get some people together. You don’t want to spend all day, so get your best mates, unpaid interns or whoever owes you a favor and build a team. Make sure everyone comes dressed appropriately, according to weather conditions and the neighborhood you will work in. Tell them to wear comfy shoes; you’ll be walking a lot.

2 – Collect all the flyers, leaflets and brochures you want to hand out.

3 – Map out the area you will be working in. If it’s a private community with it’s own manager or even security, start at the very end. That way, when you come to the entrance where the manager’s offices are located and you get kicked out, you will already have finished up to the whole place.

4 – Leaflets are best, you can roll them up and stick them under the doorhandles of your potentials voters. Why doorhandles and not mailboxes you ask? In the US it’s illegal to put anything in mailboxes because they are considered federal property. It’s a federal crime to deposit letters or other mailings without postage into a letterbox.

5 – This is it. Get your leaflets.

Roll it up.

Approach the door slowly but not conspiciously. If there is a doorhandle, stick your leaflet beneath it. If not, put it under the screen door or the foot mat. Leave.

6 – If you encounter enemy propaganda, remove it quickly and destroy it. Never make the mistake of admitting that you did this.

Next time: Going door-to-door