Single-family homes are easy. You walk up, knock on the door, have a conversation. Simple.
Then your canvassing list includes a 200-unit apartment complex with locked entry doors and a buzzer system that nobody answers. Or a gated community where the guard won't let you past without resident authorization. Or a condo building where half the units have "no soliciting" signs and you're not even sure which doors to knock on.
This is where most campaigns give up and mark entire buildings as "attempted contact" without actually reaching anyone. That's leaving hundreds of votes on the table.
Here's how to actually canvass multi-unit and restricted-access properties.
The Apartment Building Challenge
Large apartment complexes are frustrating because you've got dozens or hundreds of voters concentrated in one location, but you can't physically reach them.
The front door is locked with a buzzer system. You could ring random units hoping someone buzzes you in, but that's sketchy and inefficient. You could wait for a resident to exit and catch the door, but that looks like you're sneaking in and makes your candidate look bad.
So what actually works?
Catch people at entry/exit points. Station volunteers near the main entrance during high-traffic times—early evening when people come home from work, Saturday mornings when people are running errands. Have campaign literature ready and a brief pitch. "Hi, I'm with the campaign for [candidate]. Do you have a minute to talk about local issues?"
This isn't as good as door-knocking but it's way better than nothing. You're reaching residents where they actually are.
Target the accessible units. Most large complexes have ground-floor units with direct exterior access, or outdoor stairwells leading to second and third floors. Focus on the units you can physically reach without going through locked doors.
Use alternative contact methods. For buildings where access is genuinely impossible, switch to targeted phone banking or direct mail. Don't waste volunteer time standing outside a locked door.
The Gated Community Problem
Gated communities are designed specifically to keep outsiders out, which makes canvassing nearly impossible without resident cooperation.
Resident volunteers unlock everything. Someone who lives in the community can authorize guests, including campaign volunteers. They can either canvass their own neighborhood or let other volunteers in as their guests.
Finding resident volunteers in gated communities should be a targeted priority. Check your voter file for supporters or strong persuasion targets who live in restricted-access areas, then recruit them specifically to help with their community.
Gated Community Strategies That Work
- Work the perimeter: Sometimes you can catch residents coming or going at the security gate
- Host events inside: Small gatherings at resident supporters' homes reach multiple voters at once
- Accept limitations: For communities with no resident contacts, pivot to phone and mail
Condo Buildings Are Their Own Beast
Condos are technically private property, which makes the rules different from rental apartments. Building associations often have explicit no-solicitation policies that apply to campaign canvassing.
Check the building's policies first. Some condo associations treat campaign canvassing as protected political speech. Others ban all door-to-door solicitation including campaigns. Know before you show up.
HOA-friendly approaches work better. Instead of trying to knock every door, see if the building will let you set up a table in the lobby or common area during high-traffic times. Or ask if you can leave literature in mailbox areas (with permission).
Target board members and active residents. Every condo building has a few people who are deeply involved in building governance. Find those people, build relationships, and they can become ambassadors to their neighbors.
The Security Door Dilemma
You're at an apartment building, you found the exterior entrance to a wing of units, and there's a security door with a call box. Now what?
Calling random unit numbers feels spammy and you're not getting good response rates. Standing there calling everyone on the list takes forever and looks weird.
Some will, some won't. The ones who come down are already showing higher engagement, so the conversations tend to be better quality than random door knocks.
If the building layout allows it, leave door hangers with your campaign literature on accessible units rather than trying to reach everyone through the intercom.
Buzzer System Success Rates Are Terrible
Let's be honest about this: buzzer success rates suck. You'll call 20 units through an intercom system and maybe talk to three people.
That's not your fault. People don't answer intercoms for strangers. They don't trust voices through a speaker. They're not expecting visitors. The conversion rate on intercom canvassing is maybe 15 percent on a good day.
Use your time where it's most effective. Hit the easy properties thoroughly before burning hours on difficult access situations.
The Timing Window Matters More in Multi-Unit
In single-family neighborhoods, you've got a fairly wide window when people are home. In apartments and condos, timing is more critical.
Early evening weekdays—between 5:30 and 7:30 PM—is when you'll catch the most people at common entry points. That's when residents are coming home from work, checking mail, walking dogs, taking out trash.
Saturday mornings work well for lobby or common area presence because that's when people are out doing errands and more likely to pass through shared spaces.
Weekday afternoons are usually dead in apartment buildings that are mostly working professionals. You're not catching anyone except retirees and people who work from home.
Student Housing Requires Different Approaches
College apartment complexes are especially tricky because resident turnout is often low even when you do reach students.
Focus on voter registration and absentee ballot applications more than persuasion. Many students are still registered at their parents' address and need to update registration or request absentee ballots to vote locally.
Student Housing Best Practices
- Use peer-to-peer recruitment: Student volunteers recruiting their friends works better than outside volunteers
- Coordinate with campus organizations: College Democrats, Young Republicans, environmental clubs, etc.
- Focus on registration: Many students need to update registration or request absentee ballots
Mixed-Use Buildings Add Commercial Complications
Buildings with retail on the first floor and residential above have weird access patterns. The commercial entrance is unlocked during business hours, but residential floors are locked separately.
Sometimes you can access residential stairwells from the commercial area, sometimes you can't. Sometimes building management will throw you out for trying, sometimes they don't care.
Feel out the situation before committing volunteers. Send an experienced scout to assess access before you dispatch your whole team there.
Rural Apartments and Mobile Home Parks
Rural apartment buildings and mobile home parks have different dynamics than urban multi-unit housing.
Access is often easier—fewer locked doors and security systems. But layouts can be confusing, addresses might not match GPS locations, and some properties have "no trespassing" policies that management enforces aggressively.
Always check with park management if possible. Some are fine with campaign canvassing, others will call the police if you show up uninvited.
The Data Quality Problem in Multi-Unit Housing
Voter files for apartments and condos are notoriously messy. Unit numbers are wrong or missing. Names don't match current residents because turnover is high. You're looking for Unit 214 and the building only has 200 units.
Accept that data quality will be worse and plan accordingly. Don't beat yourself up when addresses don't match reality. Log the discrepancies so your database gets cleaned over time.
Also, turnover in rental housing means your voter file might have people who moved out months ago. When you discover this, update the database immediately so future volunteers don't waste time on the same bad addresses.
When to Give Up and Use Alternative Methods
There's a point where continued field attempts in difficult-access properties stops being worth it.
If you've tried multiple times to access a building and failed, if response rates are consistently terrible, if the time investment dramatically exceeds results—switch strategies.
Nobody's giving you extra credit for stubbornly wasting time on strategies that don't work.
The Volunteers Who Live There Are Everything
I keep coming back to this because it's that important: resident volunteers solve almost every access problem.
They can get you into gated communities. They can let you into apartment buildings. They know which neighbors are approachable and which to avoid. They understand the community dynamics. They're seen as neighbors rather than outsiders.
Finding and recruiting volunteers who live in restricted-access properties should be a strategic priority, not an afterthought.
Check your voter file specifically for supporters in these areas. Call them directly and ask for help accessing their buildings or communities.
One resident volunteer in a 300-unit building can help you reach more voters than weeks of trying to catch people at exterior entry points.
The Actual Bottom Line
Multi-unit and restricted-access properties are frustrating, but they're also where campaigns often leave significant votes on the table because the access challenges seem insurmountable.
The winning approach combines creative field strategies (catching people at common areas and entry points), targeted recruitment of resident volunteers who can provide access, and willingness to use alternative contact methods when field work genuinely doesn't make sense.
Don't waste massive volunteer hours on approaches with terrible ROI. Hit the accessible properties thoroughly first. For the genuinely difficult properties, get creative or switch to phone and mail.
And always remember: no single building or community determines the election. Do your best to reach voters where they are, but don't let access challenges paralyze your field operation or consume resources better used elsewhere.