Welcome

From sign-up to first knock in 30 minutes.

Every local race comes down to doors knocked. Here's the playbook MapMyVotes is built for — get a voter list, focus on the people most likely to vote, and hand your supporters a printed list of houses to walk.

1

Get your voter list

You don't need to scrape anything. Most county clerks and state boards of elections sell active voter lists for a small fee — sometimes free, usually $10–$200 depending on the state and the number of voters.

The list typically includes:

  • Names and home addresses of registered voters
  • Precinct or district codes
  • Which recent elections each voter showed up for (the vote history)
  • Sometimes party registration, age, sex

How to ask for one in plain language:

“I'd like to request a copy of the active voter file for [your county or district], in CSV or Excel format, including vote history. I'm running for [office] / supporting a campaign for [office] in [date].”

Search “[your state] voter file request” for the form. Most states have a one-page application. Common contacts:

  • City / county council races: your county auditor or county clerk-recorder
  • State house / senate / statewide races: your Secretary of State's elections division
  • School board, fire district, special districts: the same county office handles most of these

Heads up on rules: voter rolls are public in most states, but rules on commercial use vary. California, Arizona, Pennsylvania, and South Dakota are stricter. Use the data only for your campaign — never for marketing or resale. See our Terms.

2

Upload it to MapMyVotes

Drop the CSV or Excel file on the Upload page. We auto-detect column names (first name, last name, street, city, ZIP, vote-history columns) and let you adjust the mapping if anything looks off.

Your first 500 voters are free. After that it's $0.01 per unique address— and we deduplicate, so re-uploading next cycle won't double-charge for addresses we've already mapped.

3

Focus on voters who actually vote

On the Map, set the Min vote count filter to 2+ or 3+. This narrows your list to people who've shown up to the last few elections — the ones whose doors are worth knocking.

Sort by Most votes first if you want to start with the most reliable voters. Sort by Walk orderwhen you're building a printed list — it groups houses street-by-street so the canvasser doesn't backtrack.

Why this matters: in a typical local race, fewer than 30% of registered voters actually turn out for an off-year primary. Knocking the doors of the other 70% burns hours that don't change the result. Focus.

4

Draw turfs and hand them off

Click Draw turf, lasso a neighborhood on the map, name it, and assign it to a supporter. Each turf becomes its own walk list.

Click any turf to open its detail panel. From there:

  • Print — checkbox-style list canvassers tape to a clipboard
  • Export CSV — for spreadsheets or other tools
  • (Coming in Phase 2) Mobile app for canvassers to mark knocked / not home / talked as they go

Send the printed list (or the CSV) to your supporters. Tell them: “walk these blocks, knock these specific doors, mark off the ones you talked to.” Even a 1-hour shift can cover 40–60 doors.

Ready to start?

Have your voter list? Upload it now. Don't have one yet? Most county offices respond to file requests within 1–5 business days.

Common questions

What's the minimum list size that's worth it?
Even 500 voters (the free tier) is enough to walk a small precinct. 1,000–5,000 is typical for a city council ward. School board and county-wide races often involve 10,000–50,000 voters across the district.
What if my list doesn't have vote history?
The map and turf features still work — you just can't filter by propensity. Many counties include vote history by default; if yours doesn't, ask specifically for it (the form usually has a checkbox).
What does 'active voter' mean?
Voters whose registration is current and not flagged as moved or inactive. This is what you want — inactive registrations skew your walk lists with houses where the person no longer lives.
Can my volunteers see this?
For now, MapMyVotes is single-account: you draw turfs and export CSVs or printed lists for your team. A multi-user version (where canvassers log in on their phone and check off doors as they go) is in development for Phase 2.
What if I run out of credits mid-upload?
We'll geocode as much as your balance covers, then pause. You'll see a banner with a one-click top-up to finish the rest.