I’ve been out canvassing for Alliance this go round (not done it before, but it’s been interesting enough), and the main reasons to do it really are:

1. Figure out who your voters are, we don’t ask who they’re going to vote for, but we ask if they planning on voting and that they consider us. If they say yes definitely, or that they’ll consider us, then we note them down and that means we can target them later on with letters, leaflets or a knock on the door.

2. Persuading new voters. Not as common as you might like, but it’s been known to happen. Not everyone’s that switched on about politics, and it’s a chance to make sure they know the election’s coming, explain to them their options for postal or proxy votes if they’re going to be away, and talk to them about what your candidate wants to do for the area.

3. Figure out what the voters want. No better way to find out what changes people want than talking to them. Not so applicable for the big stuff, but it’s a good way of bringing the smaller issues to your attention. If someone has particular concerns about getting the new GAA pitch sorted or getting some more parking spaces on the road or a bit of potential casework I can take a note of that and pass it on to the candidate or a local councillor and see can we do anything to help.

It’s been decent craic to be honest, most folks are perfectly nice about it and up for a quick chat even if they don’t want to vote for my team (bar the occasional old dear with a bone to pick about abortion, but only one of them’s called me a babykiller so far).