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In a phone bank, canvass status is the list of results made available to phone bankers when they choose “I could not reach —-.”  We suggest the following choices of canvass statuses be made available to phone bankers.  Canvass statuses recommended to be used by the phone bank administrator when creating a list for a phone bank will be covered by a separate Wiki.

ADMINISTRATORS: There is separate list available for phone bankers, without the “consequences” sections. Those are for the administrator’s reference, not for the phone bankers. Also, add or delete any canvass statuses that are particular to the phone bank you are creating.

Canvas Status options as seen in Virtual Phone Bank

Busy. Designate if (a) busy signal; (b) you get 3 beeps and the line goes dead, you wait a few seconds, redial, and get the 3 beeps again, or (c) you get a strange dial tone.

Consequences: UNCONFIRMED: “Busy” is added to the voter’s Contact History. The number remains in VAN for the voter who was dialed. If the phone bank is refreshed, the number will be redialed for the same voter unless Busy is excluded from the phone bank parameters.

Deceased. Designate if the person answering the phone says they knew the voter and the voter has died.

Consequences: UNCONFIRMED: “Deceased” is added to the voter’s Contact History. The number remains in VAN for the voter who was dialed. If the phone bank is refreshed, the number will be redialed for the same voter unless the Deceased status is excluded from the phone bank parameters. 

When Stu Schwartz tested this on 5/31/23 in Manatee County, for a number of voters Deceased appeared as a manual entry in Contact History by “Volunteer” but seemed to be ignored as there were numerous canvassing entries thereafter. He did not review each of the 57 entries but did not see anywhere Deceased appeared in a voter’s history as the result of a phone bank. This could mean there are none or it could mean that if a phone bank assigns Deceased, VAN deletes the voter from VAN or otherwise handles it.

Disconnected. Designate if a phone company message says (a) the number is not in service or not a working number; (b) the number has been disconnected; (c) your call cannot be completed as dialed and you confirm you dialed the number given by the phone bank; or (d) something similar indicating the phone company does not consider the number to be active. Do not use it if you get a strange dial tone. Mark those Busy. Do not use it if you get 3 beeps and the line goes dead. Wait a few seconds, then redial. If you get 3 beeps again assign a Busy status. 

Consequences: UNCONFIRMED: “Disconnected” is added to the voter’s Contact History. The number is deleted from VAN for the voter who was dialed. If the phone bank is refreshed and the voter has additional numbers in VAN, the next number in the voter’s queue will be dialed.

Do not call. Designate if the person answering asks that the phone number be removed from our list or not be contacted AND you confirm they are the person who you were calling. If the person requesting Do Not Call is not the person you were calling or you are unable to confirm who you are speaking to, assign a Wrong Number status.

Consequences: UNCONFIRMED: “Do Not Call” is added to the voter’s Contact History. The Do Not Call suppression flag is set on the voter’s record. The number is NOT deleted from VAN for the voter who was dialed. If the phone bank is refreshed, the voter will not be included if Do Not Call is excluded from the phone bank’s parameters. When tested on 5/31/23 in Manatee County, Do Not Call did not appear in any voter’s history. This could mean no phone bank assigned this status or it could mean that VAN deletes the voter from VAN or otherwise handles it.

Hostile. Assign this status only if you confirm the person answering is who you were calling AND the person (a) is hostile or particularly unpleasant or (b) hangs up on you in a rude way. If you cannot confirm the person’s identity, assign a Wrong Number status.  Consequences: UNCONFIRMED: “Hostile” is added to the voter’s Contact History. The number is NOT deleted from VAN for the voter who was dialed. If the phone bank is refreshed, the voter will not be included if Hostile is excluded from the phone bank parameters. 

Left message. Designate if you left a message by voicemail or with the person who answered the phone. 

Consequences: UNCONFIRMED: “Left Message” is added to the voter’s Contact History. The number remains in VAN and in the current phone bank for the voter who was dialed. If the phone bank is refreshed, the number will be redialed for the same voter.

Moved. This includes three categories: (a) Moved within the same county. Do not designate it as Moved. Encourage the voter to change their voting address by contacting their Supervisor of Elections. Answer the survey question or designate a Canvass Status other than Moved. (b) Moved to another county in FL. Designate as Moved. Encourage the voter to contact the SOE in their new county to change their address. (c) Moved outside of Florida. Designate as Moved. Encourage the voter to register in their new jurisdiction and to contact their prior SOE to be deleted from that county’s rolls. Inform them that getting deleted from the FL rolls is a sure way to stop calls from FL Democrats.

Consequences: UNCONFIRMED: “Moved” is added to the voter’s Contact History. The number remains in VAN for the voter who was dialed. If the phone bank is refreshed, the voter will not be redialed if the parameters for the phone bank exclude Moved. The voter’s current primary/voting address in the contact record is marked as bad and archived.

Not Home. Designate if (a) the mailbox is full or not set up; (b) this number is not accepting messages; (c) you get a telephone company message that the customer you are calling is not available; or (d) the phone rings but doesn’t have voicemail or otherwise doesn’t answer. Consequences: UNCONFIRMED: “Not Home” is added to the voter’s Contact History. The number remains in VAN for the voter who was dialed. If the phone bank is refreshed, the number will be redialed for the same voter unless Not Home is excluded from the phone bank parameters.

Other Language. Designate if you encounter voicemail in a language other than English or Spanish or the person you are speaking to uses a language other than Spanish that you are unable to communicate with. Consequences: UNCONFIRMED: “Other Language” is added to the voter’s Contact History. The number remains in VAN for the voter who was dialed. If the phone bank is refreshed, the voter will not be redialed if the parameters for the phone bank exclude Other Language.

Refused. Designate if (a) the call is answered and hung up while you are talking or the person refuses to answer the survey question; (b) the call is screened and you are not allowed to connect; (c) you are told the voter is not at home and they do not want a call back; or (d)if the voter refuses to engage in conversation. 

Consequences: UNCONFIRMED: “Refused” is added to the voter’s Contact History. The number remains in VAN for the voter who was dialed. If the phone bank is refreshed the voter will not be redialed if the parameters for the phone bank exclude Refused.

Spanish. Designate if you encounter a Spanish language voicemail or a Spanish speaker you are unable to communicate with.

Consequences: UNCONFIRMED: “Spanish” is added to the voter’s Contact History. The number remains in VAN for the voter who was dialed. If the phone bank is refreshed the voter will not be redialed if the parameters for the phone bank exclude Spanish.

Wrong number. Designate if (a) the person answering the phone says it is a wrong number after you indicate who you are calling; (b) a fax machine answers; or (c) you connect to voicemail that strongly sounds like it is not used by the person you are calling. If the voicemail identity is ambiguous [e.g., you call Mary Smith but the voicemail is for the Smith family or Joe Smith], leave a message instead. 

Consequences: UNCONFIRMED: “Wrong Number” is added to the voter’s Contact History. The number is deleted from VAN for the voter who was dialed. If the phone bank is refreshed and the voter has additional numbers in VAN, the voter will be redialed using the next number in their queue.