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Election Day30 min read

Election Day Operations Manual

The complete GOTV playbook for Canadian election day.

Election Day Overview

Election day is the culmination of months of campaign work. A well-organized GOTV operation can increase your vote total by 5-10%.

Setting Up Your Command Centre

  • Your campaign headquarters on election day should have:
  • Large screen dashboard showing real-time poll turnout
  • Phone bank stations for calling supporters
  • Dispatch station for coordinating rides to polls
  • Communication hub for connecting with scrutineers

The Pull List System

The pull list is your most important GOTV tool:

  1. Start with your complete list of identified supporters
  2. Scrutineers at each poll report who has voted (using the bingo card or electronic tracker)
  3. Remove voted supporters from the list every 30-60 minutes
  4. The remaining names are your pull list — people to contact

Scrutineer Deployment

  • Station scrutineers at every polling station:
  • Morning shift (polls open – 1 PM): Track early voters
  • Afternoon shift (1 PM – 5 PM): Peak voting hours
  • Evening shift (5 PM – polls close): Final push and poll closing
  • Scrutineers should:
  • Know their legal rights at the poll
  • Have the voter list for their polling station
  • Report to HQ every 30 minutes
  • Flag any issues immediately

Volunteer Coordination

  • Election day requires more volunteers than any other day:
  • Canvassers: Door-knock supporters who haven't voted
  • Phone bankers: Call supporters on the pull list
  • Drivers: Provide rides to the polls
  • Scrutineers: Monitor voting at each poll
  • HQ staff: Coordinate operations

Using RidingDesk on Election Day

  • RidingDesk's Election Day module provides:
  • Real-time poll turnout dashboard
  • Automated pull list generation
  • Scrutineer reporting interface
  • GOTV reminder sending (email/SMS)
  • Issue tracking and resolution

Ready to get started?

Set up your campaign in minutes with RidingDesk.