GREENSBORO, N.C. — When you put the welcome mat outside your front door, you probably weren't thinking of election season.
A viewer wrote in:
Can people solicit politicians by going door to door? A person rang my bell last week and today and left flyers asking me to vote for a person running for president.
The short answer is, yes. It's covered under the First Amendment, it's free speech.
"It's legal and is called canvassing and pretty much every candidate does it. Even if you don't talk to someone you want to leave a flyer or a message there, you want to make sure they know you were in the neighborhood because you want their vote," said Thom Little, Political Science Professor.
What if you have a no soliciting sign on your door? Political canvassing isn't selling anything, it's not commercial. A political, religious, or community visit is absolutely legal.
"It's free speech. Now I teach a campaign class and I've had students who said they've been greeted with a gun or they've be greeted by people in their underwear," said Little.
Yipes! If you really want to keep all people from coming up your walk and knocking on your door-- a no trespassing sign will do.
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