Is Voter Turnout Affected by Proximity to Canvasser?

During the months of January and February, I contacted voters on several streets in my immediate neighborhood in an attempt to increase voter turnout in the Democratic Party's primary election. My precinct chair gave me a large list of targets, asking me to complete the list before the date for the start of early voting (February 18, 2020).

My first contacts were on the street on which I live. I know all of the neighbors on my street, talk with them frequently throughout the year, and they are all willing to listen to me when I approach them about political activities. I was not attempting to convince them to vote for a particular candidate; my goal was to increase participation in the Democratic primary.

These are the results for the 68 registered voters on my street. Thirty-four voted in the Democratic primary, three voted in the Republican primary. The voter turnout rate for the Democratic primary was 50 percent. Furthermore, 88 percent of the voters participated in the Democratic primary, and only 12 percent voted in the Republican primary.

On the street that is the farthest from my home, 86 of the street's 224 registered voters participated in the primary election for a voter turnout rate of 30 percent. Of the 86 voters, 67 voted in the Democratic primary and 19 voted in the Republican primary. Thus, 78 percent  of the participants voted in the Democratic primary and 22 percent voted in the Republican primary.

I conclude that the more familiar a canvasser is with the voters that s/he contacts, the greater the effect of his/her contact on voter turnout and mobilizing the voters of his/her political party.

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