2015 at the Hammond Barn

[maple_leaf_eh]

Originally Posted by Phil Waterman

Hi Terry

...
Were the polling services as bad for the Canadian elections, we can expect to have our dinner interrupted 2 to 3 times a week by election campaign or polling calls?

Cheers Phil

I am active in the local federal and provincial riding associations. One party has a very thorough voter tracking database. Essentially it has an understanding on a one to five scale of a voter's likelihood of supporting the party. The data is collected door to door and from previously stated intentions. The candidate uses that intelligence to run his local campaign. There isn't much telephoning except of the actual election day to make sure the known supporters get to their local polling stations. The opinion polls tend to be small samples of the population with wizard witch doctor nuance formulas to decide where the flavour of the day in headed.

The interesting wrinkle is on the election day, there will be a group of five or six polls at one polling location. As each voter steps forward to get their ballot, the poll clerk (a nonpartisan volunteer) crosses off their name on a long sheet. A scrutineer from the party is allowed to see who has voted, and reports which voters have come through. The database knows which voter is on which line of the registration form. The yes-no fact is keyed into the voter tracking database, and anyone known to be a supporter who hasn't voted by 6pm gets a personal call. It was quite an impressive get-out-the-vote machine.