To sift; to strain; to examine thoroughly; to scrutinize; as, to canvass the votes cast at an election; to canvass a district with reference to its probable vote.

To go through, with personal solicitation or public addresses; as, to canvass a district for votes; to canvass a city for subscriptions.

To search thoroughly; to engage in solicitation by traversing a district; as, to canvass for subscriptions or for votes; to canvass for a book, a publisher, or in behalf of a charity; -- commonly followed by for.

Close inspection; careful review for verification; as, a canvass of votes.

Search; exploration; solicitation; systematic effort to obtain votes, subscribers, etc.

solicit votes from potential voters in an electoral campaign

a recount of the vote, or the detail of the vote, precinct by precinct, candidate by candidate

The process used to determine the official results of an election