Cofarle’s Solution to voting during Covid-19
Cofarle is a cooperative pharmaceutical distribution company based in Leon, in the norht of Spain. After Barcelona, ??Seville and Talavera de la Reina it is the fourth oldest pharmaceutical cooperative in Spain.
Why the Cofarle Needed an E-Voting and Telematic Assembly Solution
As with most companies of a similar structure, the restrictions put in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic have meant that Shareholder meetings and company votes have been unable to go ahead. This meant that Cofarle had to seek other viable options that would allow them to assemble all 46 Participants in one place and vote on big in-house decisions.
Cofarle chose to invest in an E-voting and Telematic assembly solution as a replacement for in-person assemblies in order to protect their employees and keep them safe. In Spain, electronic voting is an alternative to voting in person protected among others by the Capital Companies Law and Royal Decree 11/2020 (formulated as a result of the COVID-19 crisis), it is therefore a totally valid option and of special importance in health emergency situations such as the one we are unfortunately experiencing.
Kuorum was trusted to carry out this event with all legal guarantees: identification of voters, guarantees of voting integrity and anonymity, evidence of all voting and its conservation, etc. Facilitating all services and guaranteeing the legal validity of the entire process.
Providing the Online Platform
In order to set up the personalised platform, Kuorum asked for a census with the details of participating voters and details as to the questions included in the vote etc. After this, Cofarle had nothing else to do but wait for Kuorum to set up their personalised E-Voting platform which was ready within a couple days of receiving all the details. Kuorum understands the importance of data protection and companies with all regulations and laws regarding the topic.
Ensuring a Secure and Legally Valid Vote
Kuorum prides itself on security and understands the importance of guaranteeing that a vote is legally valid. Providing Cofarle voters with a two-factor authentication system (SMS and email) meant that only those authorised to vote could do so. Kuorum uses a timestamp of a Trust Service Provider, a requirement of the European Regulation of Electronic Identification to provide this type of service. For each vote registered on our client?s platform, an advanced electronic signature certificate is issued which allows every vote to be accounted for if ever a challenge to the result was to be raised. These certificates are kept encrypted for five years, in compliance with Electronic Signature Laws.
Electronic voting certificates are admissible for trial as documentary evidence, and shareholders receive their certificates in their email to confirm that the vote has been correctly registered. In this way, challenges regarding the means of voting are avoided and the shareholder is given a comfortable and safe voting experience.
Day of the Vote
On top of the voting platform, Kuorum used Zoom software to host and mediate a meeting with all participating voters, meaning that all voters were in one place, voting at the same time.
Instructions were provided to all voters alongside a customer service helpline. No incidents happened with all 46 voters, meaning the whole process was smooth and simple for every user. Cofarle was sent a report soon after the vote describing the results and providing several charts and figures for the questions asked.
All in all, Cofarle?s event ran smoothly and without issues, whilst achieving all aims that the company had set for the event. We hope to remain in touch with Cofarle and continue to provide excellent and reliable services to all clients.