Canvassing

Canvassing is the only action that directly modifies voter turnout for a specific demographic group. Ads move your Favorability with a group; canvassing moves how many of that group show up at all. It's cheap, targeted, single-state, and doubles in impact during the final 4 turns of an election.

Cost and scope#

• 1 action + ₳100
• Single-state. Most characters canvass in their home state / region. Active presidential candidates canvass wherever they're currently traveling (general phase) or in their primary campaign state (primary phase). Attempting to canvass anywhere else is blocked.
• No cooldown per action; you can canvass the same group multiple times per turn.

At ₳100 per action, canvassing is the cheapest per-action-spent action in the game. The scarce resource is actions, not money.

Targeting#

You pick two things:

1. Category (Layer 1): race, age, education, wealth, ideology.
2. Group within category (21 total):

Canvassing targets one bucket in one category. The modifier reaches every voter carrying that bucket, whatever their other attributes. See Demographics for how the census builds the electorate the vote engine counts.

The effectiveness formula#

Each canvassing action produces a turnout modifier boost in the range −20 to +20 percentage points (clamped). The raw boost is computed and then damped by diminishing returns:

baseBoost        = 0.05 (percentage points)
distance         = |charEcon − demoEcon| + |charSocial − demoSocial|
alignmentMult    = max(0.1, 1.0 − distance × 0.15)
seasonMult       = isCampaignSeason ? 2.0 : 1.0
rawBoost         = baseBoost × alignmentMult × seasonMult
adjustedBoost    = rawBoost × (1 − |currentModifier| / 20)   // diminishing returns
newModifier      = clamp(currentModifier + adjustedBoost, −20, 20)

Alignment multiplier#

Canvassing a group that aligns with your policy positions is vastly more effective than canvassing a misaligned one:

At maximum misalignment you get 10% of the base boost, effectively money and actions thrown away.

Campaign season multiplier#

When an election in your state is active and set to end within the next 4 hours (4 turns), the multiplier doubles to 2.0x. This is the single biggest reason to canvass: burst-canvass in the final 4 turns of a general.

Diminishing returns#

A modifier already at +10 takes smaller and smaller boosts toward the +20 cap. At +20 exactly, the next boost is 0. The math:

adjustedBoost = rawBoost × (1 − |currentModifier| / 20)

So canvassing a group from 0 to +10 takes fewer actions than canvassing from +10 to +20. Plan accordingly.

Turnout modifier decay#

Every turn, all turnout modifiers decay 2% of their current value toward zero. A +10 modifier becomes ~+9.8 the next turn; after 4 turns of no reinforcement it's ~+9.2.

Decay planning: If your election resolves 4 turns from now and you want a +15 modifier on election day, starting from scratch you need to land a total of ~15.3 effective boost (accounting for 2% × 4 = ~8% total decay). Sustained canvassing over 2-3 turns lands that.

Interaction with party GOTV#

Party GOTV spending and player canvassing write to the same underlying turnout modifier. They stack additively, both subject to:

• The ±20 cap.
• Diminishing returns (based on the current modifier regardless of source).

Turn order within a single turn:

1. All modifiers decay by 2% of current.
2. Party GOTV (passive, budget-driven) applies.
3. Canvassing (player action, written at request time) applies immediately on submission, not in turn processing.

Result: a canvass that lands mid-turn hits BEFORE the next turn's decay starts. If you canvass at 23:59, the effect shows up in the next turn's vote-accumulation math.

Strategic uses#

When canvassing beats ads#

• Group already likes you. If Favorability is high in a group (say 75), ads diminish; the group's votes are largely secured. What's left is turnout, and canvassing gets more of them to actually show up.
• Pocket populations. A group holding 3% of the state at 38% turnout is only a 1.14% share of the vote. Boosting turnout by 5 points moves it to 43%, effectively a 13% relative improvement in that group's contribution.
• Late-game closing sprint. The 2× campaign season multiplier makes every action worth 2 normal actions in the final 4 turns.

When ads beat canvassing#

• You're close to 50% Favorability on a group. Ads directly lift appeal; a 5-point Favorability gain on a large group often outweighs a 5-point turnout gain on a small group.
• Statewide ad campaigns cover multiple groups at once; canvassing is one group at a time.
• Away games. Outside of presidential travel, you can't canvass out of state. Ads (with out-of-state multipliers) are your only option.

Combining with party GOTV#

If your party chair is already running GOTV on your aligned demographics, the modifier is already elevated. Check it before you canvass: at +18 modifier, your canvass boosts by only 10% of base. You might get more value canvassing a different group.

Common mistakes#

• Canvassing groups you don't align with. At 6+ Manhattan distance you get 10% of base effect. Wasted action.
• Starting too early. Modifiers decay. A canvass 10 turns out has depreciated significantly by election day. Time it for 2-5 turns out.
• Ignoring diminishing returns. If a modifier is at +18, additional canvassing returns ~10% of the base. Go somewhere fresher.
• Out-of-state attempts. Always blocked. Don't try.

Related#

• Stats & Actions: Action costs, all actions reference.
• Demographics & Targeting: Census composition and appeal math.
• Demographics: Full demographic system, census buckets, turnout mechanics.
• General Elections: The 4-turn campaign season window.
• Political Parties: Party GOTV spending and how it interacts.
• Polling: How to diagnose where canvassing has the highest ROI.