"Gentlemen, voting in DC is about to commence. We need to swing a few voters the right way. You can help."
—The Elephant offering the heist
Election Day is a two-day heist in PAYDAY 2. It was added for free in Update #25.
The crew must place a GPS tracker on the truck moving the ballot machines in order to hack the ballot machines later on.
The heist contractor is The Elephant who wants to make sure the vote is swung in favor of his mayoral candidate Bob McKendrick. In exchange he will use his connections to help the old Hoxton be transferred out of Hazelton to a prison with lighter security.
This heist is noteworthy for having a great emphasis on stealth over aggression, with the maximum reward to the crew if they can complete day 1 correctly and maintain stealth throughout.
You can look in open containers scattered across the docks that match the same color as the trucks. You will need to find a container that contains voting cards; the color of the container with the voting cards will be the truck you need to tag with the GPS.
If there are 2 trucks with the same color of the container with the voting cards, then tag the one that doesn't have a second truck from the same company.
On Mayhem, the chances of the voting cards appearing are rare. Therefore, any container you see that is open is more than likely an incorrect truck. However, it may still be worth checking the contents to make sure, since although it is rare, it is not completely impossible for the voting cards to appear in a container.
If you have found the correct color of the truck but there are 2 trucks with the same correct color and both are from a separate company that don't have another pair then you will need to find the computer or take a guess.
If containers don't contain the voting cards then you will need to use the computer to find out which truck is correct or take a guess.
Computer
Make your way over to the two warehouses and search the offices upstairs and downstairs until you find the computer. Each interaction with the computer will bring up one of three companies. Each company will show the location of where it is going. Interact with the computer and remember each company listed. The company that is not shown on the computer will be the truck that you need to tag with the GPS.
Note: The computer always shows the companies in the following order: Avalon, Kranich, Omni Exports, Hefty. The first company that is excluded from the list will be the correct truck, meaning the truck can be ascertained without using the computer more than three times (if the first three companies are shown, then the correct truck will have the Hefty logo).
Guessing
There will be six trucks. If you look at the companies printed on the sides you will notice that there are two pairs of trucks from the same company. Those trucks are not the ones you want. The correct truck will be one of the remaining two trucks left, which will be from two different companies. Tag any of the 2 remaining trucks (50% chance).
You can also use any of the above two methods to help you eliminate the final truck.
High-speed Walkthrough
Election Day can be rushed such that it only last the same as other 1-day heists but still provide a 2-day bonus.
To do this, the crew should be equipped with stealth loadouts. All players must be equipped with ECM Jammers. Only one player should enter the pier, preferably with some skills increasing running speed and stamina. After the player enters the pier, the crew should begin chaining ECMs (deploying another ECM as the last one finishes) to stop the alarm from sounding.
The player entering the pier may either:
Go immediately to the trucks and tag one of the two possible trucks. (By eliminating the two pairs of trucks from the same company, the possibility of guessing a correct truck is lowered to 2 trucks) This will have a 50% of chance to go to the normal Day 2 and a 50% of chance to Day 2 Plan C. This method has a random chance but is faster.
The player may also intentionally tag the wrong truck to go to Day 2 Plan C.
Enter the two warehouses and search and use the computer. As long as the ECMs are properly chained, there should be enough time to identify the correct truck and tag it to go to normal Day 2.
The player entering the pier should not kill any guards as pagers are not stopped by ECM Jammers (unless ECM Specialist is aced).
If done properly, a rushed Election Day will still provide a 5% stealth bonus after completion regardless of the situations on Day 2.
Variations
The front gate may be opened or closed.
A guard may be idle at the front gate.
The fences besides the gate may be covered so you can't cut them.
Containers can be in different positions, sometimes blocking off routes and opening new ones.
Some containers may not be open at all forcing you to use the computer.
Some doors leading to the offices where the computer may be located will be open instead of closed.
White containers can now be aqua light blue.
There may be only 2 colours of containers forcing players to go for the computer or take a guess at which truck is correct.
Strategy
There are stacks of crates and boxes that can be used to climb up to the upper warehouse levels and quickly cross the dockyard.
There are several dumpsters that can be interacted with to open or close them; they can be used to hide body bags.
Find out which one of the two buildings holds the power boxes needed to protect when stealth should fail. The building with the boxes contains the computer.
Tagging the wrong truck will change day 2 into plan C, which can only be completed in full aggression.
Throwing body bags into the water will cause it to disappear, making it a good way of hiding it from guards.
Be aware that shooting guards silently results in ragdoll physics that can send bodies over fences or into the water. This results in guard pagers being unable to be answered.
Note:If you want to force "Day 2 Plan C", then place down an ECM jammer, sprint over to the trucks, then place the GPS tracker on any of the two trucks with the same company logo
Crates will always be placed randomly around the map.
The Camera operator can either be on the left or right side of the building's office areas upstairs. They will be a civilian rather than a guard.
The warehouse has extra loot (money) that will spawn randomly inside the cages that can be bagged and carried out to the van for an added payout bonus.
Some crates will be in secure cages in the back areas; there are 8 cages in total. Sometimes they will be covered, but you can still look into them from the catwalk above. Open them via one of three means;
Each cage will take 60 seconds to drill open (40 with Drill Sawgeant Aced). Do note that because of the short drill time, the drills jam extremely frequently, sometimes they can even jam in less than 5 seconds after being restarted. Alternatively, they may be opened with the OVE9000 saw (equipped with the Silent Motor if stealthing), or with a keycard on the panel.
Keycards can be found in the two office areas on the second floor, in the locker room and on the desk in the lobby area next to the locker room.
Strategy
Guards/Cameras notice:
Players.
Drills.
Broken (but not open) Windows.
Broken Cameras.
Body Bags/Loot Bags.
Ballot machines that are currently in the process of being hacked. (Guards will not notice opened crates with/without ballot machines or ballot machines that have been hacked. Guards can see a hacked ballot machine that isn't closed if they happen to walk above it, although this rarely happens.)
Dead/Dominated/Alerted Guards and Civilians.
As with all Elephant heists - killing a 4th guard will trigger a new security guard to arrive to the area, check the place out, and then leave. The extra guard will radio in to open the front gate if it is closed, look around the outside, and then he will give a final report before leaving. As he does not go inside the warehouse, one can hide dead bodies and hostages inside of it.
Crates can be opened from the ones next to them.
Crates in the secure cage can be sometimes opened from the cage next to them. Likewise, the ballot machines in the crates can also interacted with this way. Some crates can also be interacted with through the walls.
Given the patrolling guard patterns and the time required to drill the cages, it is strongly advised to avoid drilling cages where possible, especially those on the ends towards the front of the warehouse - guards will very likely spot the drills from the central 'room' even if they would not see a crouched player at that distance. Open the front cages with keycards if necessary, and only drill the cages further back.
2 guards will be Metropolitan Police officers, who do not require pager replies. They are usually outside guarding the entrance but can sometimes be patrolling inside.
They are the only ones, if Day 1 is successfully stealthed. However, if the correct truck is tagged but the first day went loud, then a lot of Metropolitan Police officers and a police car will spawn on the map.
If a Metropolitan Police officer spots a ballot machine in the process of being hacked he will disable it first before raising the alarm.
Forklifts in the warehouse can be interacted with during stealth, but cannot be used once the alarm is raised or after a guard has turned it off. When used, they create a lot of noise to attract one of the guards to it.
If the heist goes loud, M18 Claymores (akin to trip mines) may be planted by cops in some parts of the map, usually at the main and side doors. If a player moves near one, it will detonate, instantly incapacitating anyone who isn't wearing an ICTV with the Muscle or Stoic perk deck equipped.
The crew only needs to hack the computer if escape is not already available when the heist goes loud.
If one opts to use a saw to open the cages, they may utilize Berserker with Frenzy instead of the Fast Motor.
Day 2 (Plan C) (Breaking Ballot)
Objectives
Locate the server.
Scramble the server. (Hidden timer; 60-180 seconds, may need to be rebooted, up to 2 times)
Blow open the wall to the bank.
Get the Thermal Drill from the Elevator. (See 'variations' for events)
There may be a tremendous amount of cash inside the vault (12 bags). Bain will act particularly surprised if this occurs. On the contrary, the vault also has a chance of having no loot whatsoever.
There are a few different things that can happen with the elevator;
The elevator can arrive as normal and have the drill sitting in it.
Bain may say that something is wrong, or that you went to the wrong elevator. After a short delay, one of the other elevators will then open to reveal the drill.
When the elevator arrives, a Bulldozer will throw the drill bag out and attack immediately. The bulldozer is most often armed with an IZHMA.
The bag will appear to have been delivered without issues, but a Cloaker will drop down through the roof hatch to ambush anyone near the door.
The vault may be located on either side of the wall.
Notes
The polling station and surrounding area is packed with guards - at least half a dozen, if not more. There are several cameras as well.
The C4 charges used to breach the wall behind the bank are lethal to anyone in its blast radius, which is the cubicle's area where the ballot machines are located, so clear the area before the charges go off. Be wary about non-CPU teammates inside the radius, as they will be downed. Hostages and law enforcers will also be killed, but there is no cash penalty for killing hostages with this method.
As detailed in Bain's notes, this map has several long, clear lines of fire; exercise caution when fighting outside of the bank and when moving to retrieve the drill.
The police will deploy snipers behind the bank/polling station and at both exits of the building.
It is possible to stealth up till placing the C4. The instant it detonates the alarm will sound; even with an ECM Jammer placed and cameras taken down.
Mayhem+ changes
All days:
All cameras are Titan cameras.
Day 1:
A ship is in the middle of the dock, so players cannot see the trucks from their spawn points.
Voting cards have a rare chance of appearing in containers.
Day 2:
You will need to find a crowbar to open the crates.
Cages will always be covered.
Day 2 (Plan C):
The cage inside the vault will always be locked (requiring drill, C4 or saw).
The FBI Files
There were sightings of the Payday crew at the docks where the voting machines for the Mayoral elections were being stored, as well as at the warehouse where they were transported.
My Notes: Suspicious activity around the ballot machines potentially points to some crooked political crime, though perhaps this was Bains’ intention. In this town, any kind of suspicion could discredit a nominee.
Bugs
On day 2, breaking the small windows to the left side of the warehouse and looking through the left and right side of the window will let you see through the walls and objects of the world and only show certain objects of interest.
On day 2, the police officers may sometimes walk to an already hacked and closed ballot machine and will either idle next to it or kick the machine. No alarm is raised and nothing else happens.
On day 2, after sawing open a cage door, it is still possible to use (and waste) a keycard on its slot, which closes and immediately reopens the door.
On day 2, completing the heist in stealth triggers the loud epilogue regardless, rendering the stealth epilogue impossible to trigger.
I'm a Swinger In the Election Day job, complete the heist in stealth and swing the votes to the republican favour.
Death Wish Swinger In the Election Day job, complete the heist in stealth and swing the votes to the republican favour on the Death Wish difficulty or above.
Yes We Can! Complete the Election Day job on the Death Wish difficulty or above.
Master Detective On day 1 of the Election Day job, tag the right truck.
Murphy's Law On day 1 of the Election Day job, tag the wrong truck, then find nothing in the vault.
Hot Lava 2.0 On day 1 of the Election Day job, use the computer in stealth without ever touching the ground.
Storage Hunter On day 2 of the Election Day job, steal all of the extra loot in the storage bins.
The following achievement was removed on October 5, 2016.
I Invented the Internet Complete the Election Day pro job on the Death Wish difficulty.
The following appeared on March 13, 2014.
O
Say
Can
You
See
By
The
Dawn's
Early
Light
The teasers of the achievements are the first several lyrics of The Star-Spangled Banner, the USA's national anthem.
Yes We Can! is a reference to Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign slogan.
The Hot Lava 2.0 achievement is an achievement with the same name as an achievement (Hot lava) from PAYDAY: The Heist, in which you cannot let law enforcers touch graffiti in Panic Room, hence 2.0 in the name.
Storage Hunter is a reference to the TV show "Storage Hunters".
Ghost Riders is a reference to the Marvel comic and film superhero "Ghost Rider", whose head is simply a bare skull.
The Master Detective achievement is slightly bugged. You do not actually need to tag the truck to get it, but only manage to get to the mission to sabotage the voting machines. Meaning that even if you go loud and the trucks leave the docks, you can still get this achievement by hacking the server twice for a 100% chance at trailing the right truck to the warehouse.
Reputation Beyond Reproach In the Breaking Ballot heist in the Election Day job, complete the heist with you and your four man crew without letting anyone getting downed, cloaked or cuffed on the Death Wish difficulty or above.
Speedlock Holmes On day 1 of the Election Day job, tag the right truck and leave within a minute of the start of the heist.
Don't Forget to Vote! Complete the Election Day job on the Normal difficulty or above.
Your Vote Matters! Complete the Election Day job on the Hard difficulty or above.
The Most Honest Political Move Complete the Election Day job on the Very Hard difficulty or above.
Democracy in Action Complete the Election Day job on the Overkill difficulty or above.
4 More Years Complete the Election Day job on the Mayhem difficulty or above.
Suporting Your Candiate Complete the Election Day job on the Death Sentence difficulty.
Only Losers Play Fair Complete the Election Day job on the Death Sentence difficulty with the One Down mechanic activated.
If the alarm is raised on Day 2 Plan B after the truck containing the gold is opened, players can continue to finish looting the gold but they will not earn the achievement "I'm a Swinger".
The Capitol Savings Bank building present on Day 2 Plan C of this heist is based on the Field Building in Chicago.
Day 2 Plan C is currently the only heist in which the present ATMs are not from the Harvest & Trustee, but the Capitol Savings Bank instead.
On day 2, when reinforcements arrive after the crew kill too many guards in stealth, a guard will walk up to the front gate, open it, walk around the warehouse and if he does not spot anything suspicious, he will walk over to the gate, make a call on his radio, walk over to the van and then walk off the map.
The Dentist is mentioned in a side job, in which he wants to see the crew successfully not touch the ground in stealth of this heist.
The images showcasing the GenSec units on the Death Wish announcement site show them in what appears to be the warehouse in Day 2 Plan A/B, but set in daylight. This may mean that all versions of Day 2 were to be set in daylight.
The heist's DLC page on Steam strangely features an image of Big Oil Day 1.
The entire of Day 1 is possible to be completed without ever touching the floor, with the exception of tagging the truck, making it possible to play the floor is lava.
