Secure Voting for AGMs & Congresses

A national trade union wanted to include electronic voting at its annual policy congress and sector conference. This is a pivotal three-day event where over 350 delegates attend from across the country along with a sizeable number of delegates who attend virtually. Both sets of delegates debate and vote on motions critical to the future direction of the union and every vote needs to be verified and counted.

Requirements

The voting system needed to be secure but accessible for both in-person and virtual delegates.
Delegates had to have the ability to revise their vote, with only one vote per delegate being counted across the two platforms.
The system had to be flexible and provide tailored access during parallel plenaries, to ensure voters only voted in the session they were eligible for.

Solution

To meet this challenge, we deployed a secure voting system centred around RFID-enabled personalised badges and NFC-enabled keypads for in-person participants. We worked in close collaboration with our client, who provided their proprietary secure online voting system for the virtual attendees.

Key Technologies Used

RFID Smart Badges: delegates who physically attended the conference received a personalized badge embedded with an RFID circuit.
350 Custom Voting Keypads distributed across each voting venue.
Badge-to-Handset Authentication: Once a vote was opened, delegates activated a handset with their RFID badge.
Delegates were able to use any device during the conference – the badge providing secure, personalised access to each voting device.
Vote Management Logic: Handsets allowed delegates to submit votes whilst the vote was open during the sessions — but only accepted the final vote submitted from each badge, ensuring freedom to change minds whilst discarding any duplicate votes.
Integrated Online Voting Platform: Simultaneously, remote delegates participated using a secure web-based voting interface provided by our client.
Votes were tallied from both systems, with final integrity checks being carried out before the results were displayed on screens around the venue.

Multiple Streams

On the first day, all delegates gathered in one hall with debates being held on a wide range of motions. Voting occurred live, with the system instantly recognizing votes cast and the team managing the merging of in-person and online votes.

The second day however saw multiple streams. The use of the personalised RFID badges ensured votes were cast securely within the smaller working groups with each delegate only having access to the motions relevant to their sector.

On the final day of Congress, delegates reconvened in the main conference hall to continue making decisions on future policy.

Conclusion

This event showcased how technology can empower democratic decision-making without compromising integrity. Whether in the room or online, every delegate had a voice. And every voice was counted.

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