No letup for mayoral rivals as voters cast verdict today

Menino’s campaign, fueled by a mix of volunteers, city workers and union members, plans to mobilize across Boston today to make phone calls, knock on doors, and drive vans in an all-out push to get the mayor’s supporters to the polls. Political observers said Menino has one of the most finely tuned political machines in city history.

Menino’s campaign will have three bases of operation today, aides said. Volunteers will make phone calls from the headquarters of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 103 in Dorchester, mobilize people to knock on doors from Prince Hall in Roxbury, and coordinate rides to the polls from the mayor’s campaign offices at 2 Center Plaza.

“That’s what it’s all about . . . just mobilizing the field organization we’ve put together over the last several months,’’ said Menino, who was first elected mayor in 1993.

Flaherty, who has won citywide elections four times as councilor at large, is hoping his alliance with Councilor at Large Sam Yoon will bolster his efforts to get voters to the polls.

Flaherty combined forces with Yoon after the preliminary election, promising him a position as deputy mayor if he is elected, and Yoon’s roughly 400 volunteers are now supporting Flaherty, said campaign spokeswoman Natasha Perez. “Now, with the united campaign, there’ll be about 1,000 people on the ground,’’ Perez said.

Flaherty, who won two neighborhoods, Charlestown and South Boston, in the preliminary election, has been focusing recently on picking up votes in the city’s predominantly minority neighborhoods. Flaherty plans to continue that effort today with appearances in Dorchester, Roxbury, and Mattapan, as well as in voter-rich West Roxbury and his home neighborhood of South Boston.

Menino has long experience in the unglamorous work of getting voters to the polls.

“He has boots on the ground, and the ability to know that if, at 4 o’clock, certain people haven’t voted, they’re going to call them up, and in some cases, offer them rides,’’ said Lawrence S. DiCara, a former city councilor and longtime observer of Boston politics. “They have that down to a science, and they have it down to a science in every neighborhood of the city.’’

DiCara said that if Flaherty and Yoon are truly able to combine volunteer forces, they could make it a very tight race. But typically, he said, candidates are not able to switch the allegiance of all of their supporters and voters to another candidate.

“It’s unclear how many volunteers Sam Yoon will be able to deliver, because it’s not for him; it’s for the other guy,’’ he said. Still, DiCara added: “There’s no playbook on this. Anything could happen.’’

Menino has run the most expensive mayoral campaign in Boston history, spending $2 million to Flaherty’s $1.3 million this year. The difference has allowed Menino to run multiple television ads, while Flaherty has had to focus on direct mail and automated phone calls and e-mails to reach voters. Yesterday, Flaherty and Yoon e-mailed voters video messages asking for support.

“Hello, Boston,’’ Flaherty said in a video he planned to release today. “We can’t wait four more years to fix our schools, to make our streets safer and cleaner, and to have someone who’s willing to fight to put people back to work. We have today.’’

Yesterday, Flaherty and Yoon greeted voters at the Forest Hills MBTA station, at a diner in Dudley Square and at grocery stores in Jamaica Plain and West Roxbury. As they campaigned in Codman Square in Dorchester, they popped into laundromats and beauty supply shops.

“Hello everyone, I’m Michael Flaherty; I’m running for mayor,’’ Flaherty said jovially in one convenience store, before handing cards to the smattering of shoppers gathered there.

Walking down Washington Street, trailed by a gaggle of campaign volunteers carrying pamphlets and a large sign bearing their names, Flaherty and Yoon appeared confident.

After drivers in a few passing cars honked and waved, Flaherty smiled and said, “That’s how I’m going to beat him, ordinary people.’’

Menino, taking a jab at Flaherty’s partnership with Yoon, plans to distribute cards to voters that say: “Turn card over to see Mayor Menino’s deputy mayor,’’ revealing a side of reflective material that allows voters to see themselves.

Menino spent yesterday stumping across the city and even went to Norwood to greet about a hundred seniors from West Roxbury who were dining at a city-sponsored luncheon in a ballroom. “I’ll travel anyplace to get votes,’’ Menino said.

Earlier in the day, Menino held a “dim sum meet-and-greet’’ at Empire Garden in Chinatown and visited the Edison K-8 School in Brighton, where he joined Red Sox first baseman Kevin Youkilis, whose foundation donated books to the school.

Menino dismissed talk that he wants to trounce, not just defeat, Flaherty.

“It’s not about mandates; it’s about winning,’’ Menino said. “Everybody wants to say, ‘Well, if the mayor doesn’t win by X, it’s a narrow victory.’ But I believe a victory by 1 or 2 points is just as good as a victory by 20 points.’’

At a rally last night at the East Boston Social Center, an energetic crowd of about 200 held signs and chanted, “Four more years.’’

Menino told the crowd: “I need your help. Let’s go get ’em. Let’s get work done. Tomorrow will be the biggest victory.’’

In Dorchester last night, Flaherty asked a crowd of 200, chanting “Menino must go,’’ to encourage friends and neighbors to vote.

“Our work is not done yet,’’ Flaherty said. “Get a good night’s sleep. Get up early, and man these polls until 8 o’clock tomorrow night.’’

The rally was held at the Carver Lodge, where Flaherty-Yoon supporters danced and chanted, “It is time - for a change.’’

Globe correspondent Abbie Ruzicka contributed to this report. Levenson can be reached at mlevenson@globe.com; Slack at dslack@globe.com.