Walk lists
What is a walk list (or walking list)?
A walk list is one canvasser's doors for one shift. It holds each voter's name and address. It puts the doors in walking order.
Free to print. No sign-up.
The short version
What it is
One person's doors for one shift, in walking order.
What is on it
Name, address, why you picked the door, the questions to ask, and a map.
Where it comes from
Your voter file, cut into turf.
How big
40 to 60 doors for two hours in a city. Fewer in the suburbs.
Built on a real DC council race: 268 volunteers and 700 shifts, from the team's own sheets, August 2026.
How many volunteers will you need?
Enter your sites and dates. You get your number in seconds and a shift plan to download. No sign-up.
Check how many volunteers you need, freeWhat goes on a walk list
Every door needs a name and an address. Add the other voters in the home, so one knock covers them all.
Next to that, say why you picked the door. It might be a support score. It might be a turnout score. It might be a tag like "new voter" or "asked for a mail ballot."
Then add the script and its questions. Print them on the sheet, or load them in your canvassing app. Add a map of the turf. Leave space to write what happened at each door: not home, said no, moved, or a real talk.
Put the doors in walking order. Walk up one side of the street, then back down the other. Never zigzag across a busy road. That one change is the difference between 50 doors in two hours and 30.
How to build a walk list in five steps
Step 1
Pick your universe. Choose who you want to reach this week. Maybe swing voters in September. Maybe your supporters in the last week.
Step 2
Group them by street. Doors that sit near each other go together. Walking time is the cost you are cutting.
Step 3
Split into shift-size chunks. Aim for 40 to 60 doors. Cut it shorter for a first-timer.
Step 4
Order the doors. One side up, the other side back. Print a map with the list.
Step 5
Name who walks it. A list with no canvasser is just paper. This is the step campaigns skip.
Free template
We made a walk list sheet you can print today. It has the columns above and a packet checklist.
Get the free walk list templateWhere the lists get cut
Turf cutting happens in your voter file tool. If your race has party access, VAN and its MiniVAN app are the standard. VAN is the voter file system most party campaigns use.
Races without that access often use Ecanvasser or a vendor file with its own turf tool. The smallest races still cut turf in a spreadsheet and print it.
Capstone Volunteer reads spreadsheet exports from any of them. So the same people those tools know about can be put on a shift.
The half a walk list cannot do
A walk list with no canvasser is a stack of paper. Campaigns cut great turf and still lose the Saturday. The person assigned to the list never came.
Staffing is a shift scheduling job. The launch is a place. The canvass block is a shift. The assignment ties one person to one turf at one hour.
Capstone Volunteer ranks who to ask by who lives in the ward. So the person walking the list knows the blocks. The coverage report shows which turfs have a name on them and which do not.
After the launch, record who came. The canvasser who walked two turfs is remembered in October. So is the one who never showed. That record is how you know your election day plan will hold. The full pattern is in the canvass scheduling guide.
Launch day checklist
- Print two copies of every list. Phones die at 4pm.
- Sort the packets by launch site the night before. Match them to who is coming.
- Call every canvasser the day before. This is the biggest lever you have.
- Pair new people with someone who knows the ward. Give them a shorter list.
- Write down who came and how many doors they knocked.
Walk list questions
What is a walk list?
A walk list is one canvasser's doors for one shift. It holds each voter's name and address. It says why that door was picked. And it puts the doors in walking order.
Some campaigns call it a walking list, a turf packet, or a canvass list. They all mean the same thing.
How do you build a walk list?
Start with your universe. That is the slice of voters you want to reach this week. Then group those voters by street. Then split the groups into chunks one person can walk in a shift. Each chunk becomes a list with its own map.
Most campaigns cut turf in a voter file tool. Small races can do it in a spreadsheet.
How many doors should be on a walk list?
Put 40 to 60 doors on a two-hour list in a city. Use fewer where houses sit far apart.
Most canvassers knock 20 to 30 doors an hour. About one in four answers. So a 50-door list is about two hours of walking and a dozen real talks.
What is the difference between a walk list and turf?
Turf is the area, like a set of blocks. The walk list is the sheet of doors inside that turf. One turf can make several walk lists as your targets change.
Do you need software to make walk lists?
For a few hundred doors, yes. Turf tools like VAN's MiniVAN, Ecanvasser, or PDI cut routes and print maps. VAN is the voter file system most party campaigns use. For one small precinct, a spreadsheet works.
Does Capstone Volunteer cut walk lists?
No. It schedules the people who walk them. Cut turf in your voter file tool. Then use Capstone Volunteer to put the canvass on a shift grid, name who walks each turf, remind them the day before, and record who showed up.