Filter your universe first
The turf cutter works on the voter list your current filters produce. Narrow to a city, set of precincts, or a target audience before cutting — a statewide universe is too large to cut in one pass.
Turf cutting help
Cut a voter universe into balanced canvassing turfs.
Use this guide to turn a filtered list of voters into walk-ready turfs sized for your volunteers, with precincts kept whole.
How it worksFrom a filtered list to walk lists
Set the crew size
Crew size is the number of voters you want in each turf — a walk list for one canvasser or one shift. The slider runs from small (25) to large (300); pick the size a volunteer can finish in the time you have.
Choose what to keep together
Keep turfs grouped by precinct or by ZIP. Grouping keeps each turf geographically tight so a canvasser is not sent across town inside one assignment.
Cut the turf
The cutter packs whole precincts (or ZIPs) up to your crew size. A geography larger than the crew size is split on its own into numbered parts so no single turf is oversized.
Review the balance
Each turf shows its voter count and a balance bar against your target. Adjust the crew size and re-cut until the spread looks right for your volunteer base.
Reading the balance
Each turf is colored against your crew-size target.
On target
The turf is within range of your crew size — a clean, full walk list.
Under
Smaller than the crew size, usually the last sheet of a precinct. Combine with a neighbor or accept it as a short list.
Over
Larger than the crew size. The cutter only allows this when a single precinct cannot be split further by the chosen grouping; raise the crew size or switch grouping if it is too big.
How precincts are splitKeeping turfs walkable
Precincts stay whole
Whenever it can, the cutter keeps a precinct in one turf so a canvasser is not handed half a street.
Big precincts split into parts
A precinct larger than the crew size becomes several turfs labelled as parts (for example 1/7, 2/7) so the run still reads as one precinct broken into walkable sheets.
Unassigned precinct
Records with no precinct on file are grouped together and labelled clearly so they can be handled or held separately.