Electronic voting and Educating Cities during lockdown

A configurable telematic voting platform

The association's Executive Committee was forced to find an innovative solution to hold the assembly virtually. Electronic voting has been around for over 60 years. From punch card systems to online voting and paper-based electronic voting, there is a wide range of solutions available. While its use at the state level has seen gradual growth, it has never been as crucial for medium and small organizations like the IAEC. But questions arose: What legal framework applies in these cases? What is the minimum required security level? How can member identities be verified? And equally important, are there providers capable of implementing such a system quickly and affordably?

Since 2013, we at Kuorum have been helping public and private organizations across seven countries with telematic voting. The first step in cases like the IAEC’s is to analyze the applicable legal framework. Based on this, we propose an identity verification system. The authentication process is configurable, offering options such as single-factor, two-factor, three-factor, or biometric authentication. The aim is to strike a balance between recommended minimum security and ease of use for voters exercising their rights.

Caring for voters and the planet

Despite the speed at which this first virtual assembly was organized, participation rates were comparable to previous in-person voting sessions. Any issues that arose during the process were resolved through our call center. More than half of the voters used the open-response section to commend the Executive Committee for their swift problem-solving.

An hour and a half after the voting closed, we delivered a report in four languages containing the results, along with files detailing the voting logs and aggregated responses.

We cannot draw positive conclusions from a black swan, which has caused devastating loss of human life. It would be both naive and in poor taste to do so. This tragedy is without reprieve. However, in the context of this case, electronic voting allowed the IAEC to continue its socially impactful work during the crisis while safeguarding the health of its members and many others. By holding their assembly virtually, they also avoided 14 tons of CO2 emissions, saved $400,000 in flights, and cut over $12,000 in accommodation expenses.

If you'd like more information about this case, feel free to contact the IAEC. And if you want to know more about secure electronic voting, you can contact us.