Election day
Docs / Election day

Preparing for election day

Assign agents to stations, brief them, test the SMS fallback and set allowance rules.

Election day goes well when it is rehearsed. Start preparing at least two weeks before.

1. Know your stations#

Polling stations come from the published reference geography (county, constituency, ward, polling centre and station). Check that the stations you want to cover appear under your campaign's area.

2. Recruit and assign agents#

  1. Create a sign-in account for each agent with the Polling agent role, scoped to one polling station (Settings › Users).
  2. Link each agent to their volunteer and person records, so they can be verified and paid.
  3. Open Election day › Agents to see which stations are covered and which are not.

Aim for two agents per station: results need two matching entries from different agents.

3. Verify agents#

Each agent is verified by an SMS code sent to their sealed phone number before they can check in by GPS at their station. Verify everyone during training, not on the morning of the vote.

4. Issue SMS fallback PINs#

When mobile data fails, agents can report by SMS. On the Agents page, generate each agent's six-digit fallback PIN. It is shown once: give it to the agent privately. Generate a new PIN if it is lost.

Print the SMS fallback briefing from the Agents page for every agent. See the Polling agent guide.

5. Pair phones and rehearse#

  • Pair every agent's phone with the Sauti Field app.
  • Run a rehearsal: check-in, a test incident and a test result entry, both in the app and by SMS.
  • Make sure the campaign's reply-capable SMS sender is approved and active.

6. Set allowance rules#

Decide how agents are paid. Allowances can be paid by M-PESA automatically after a verified check-in and submitted results, with exceptions handled by a two-person approval. See Incidents, turnout and allowances.

7. Plan your messages around silence#

The election-silence window blocks promotional sends for all organisations. Schedule your final campaign messages before it starts. Turnout reminders on the day must respect the law in force.

8. Staff the command centre#

Assign coordinators to watch Incidents and Results, with clear owners for triage, verification and sign-off.