To many Americans, politics quite easily become a distant, intangible thing. Sure, the polls are plastered all over the TV, and there’s ceaseless conversation over one candidate’s soundbite or the other, but oftentimes it can seem hard to get directly involved in the election season (or at least, until voting time comes around). With the primaries in full-swing, I,  just as many Americans, felt at a loss to get directly involved. However, when I was approached to do some door knocking for the candidate I support this season, Bernie Sanders, I all but jumped at the chance to fulfil my civic duty. It was my first time doing anything for a political campaign, and my time doing polling in the Zilker neighborhood was enjoyable, informative, and sometimes downright strange.

Door-knocking is a very simple process. Using a list of nearby registered voters and a few maps, we sought out certain houses on certain streets to visit. When arriving at a house, we’d knock, wait a few minutes for an answer, and on the rare occasion people actually come to the door, we’d ask them a few questions about the upcoming primaries (who they’re voting for, if they’re registered, and, if they’re planning on voting for Sanders, if they’d like to volunteer). We then took down this information, handed them a pamphlet, and thanked them for their time. If they weren’t at home, we simply left a pamphlet in their mail, and went on our way to the next house.

I soon found out that it’s actually a lot easier to volunteer for your candidate of choice than it might seem. On a candidate’s website, all a prospective volunteer needs to do is fill out some personal contact information, and indicate what activities they might be inclined to participate in. These range from simple things, like going door-to-door, to the more complex and time consuming, like hosting a fundraiser or house party. These activities not only serve to get individuals involved in the democratic process, but also educate potential voters on how to get involved. While going door-to-door, some of the people my friends and I polled had a few questions regarding the process of voting in the primaries. At this point, we would show them how to get registered and hand them a form, if they hadn’t already done so.

While it may seem tedious to go door-to-door in a neighborhood, it’s actually quite often an interesting experience. Although we found that but a scant few of the registered Democrats in the area were at home, (or disposed to answer our questions at the time) we quickly found that people have a variety of reactions to door-knockers, and while some might not be pleasant, they’re generally all interesting.  Perhaps the most interesting people we encountered on our journey through the neighborhood was a couple, both of whom answered the door. When we began to explain who we were volunteering for, we were immediately cut off by the husband, who explained to us, rather sternly, loudly, and much to his wife’s dismay, that socialism was “bad and caused half a million deaths in the past century,” and then shut the door. As we walked away, the wife then opened the door, apologized for her husband’s spiel, and said that she already planned to vote for Bernie in the upcoming election. Every door that was opened led to a similar, strange situation (I suspect it likely had something to do with the candidate). This being said, if you plan on doing door-to-door volunteer work, make sure you have at least one other person with you, just for safety reasons.

Getting involved in the political process is important. I feel as if, as a society, we’re giving up on the idea of civic duty and the importance of voting. It’s easy to take for granted the ability to vote and participate in government, but it really is a great thing. There are places in the world where there isn’t even a choice in leadership, and it’s easy for sections of the population to become disenfranchised, without a way to voice their opinions or receive redress. When the opportunity is so easily available, we as a nation should feel obliged to participate in the very thing that holds our country together and makes it a place we can love – democracy.