Online Voting for Schools, SRC and Association Elections

SRC elections, student association polls, hall elections in universities and colleges of education, and church or association elections have different needs from paid voting: each eligible person votes once, voting is usually free, and the ballot must be secret. TechWorld Voting System has a separate elections module built for exactly this.

Who can vote: the voter list

Start with an accurate list of eligible voters — names, phone numbers and/or email addresses, and optionally a student or member ID. You can add voters one by one or import them from an Excel or CSV file. The import shows every row with its problems before anything is saved, so you can fix mistakes first.

Voters can be placed in groups (for example a level, a hall or a department). A position can be limited to a group, so only Level 400 students vote for the Level 400 representative, for example.

How voters sign in

When the election is launched, each voter receives a Voter ID and Voter Key by SMS and/or email. Keys are stored hashed, never displayed on screen and never placed in links. Repeated wrong attempts are slowed down and locked out, to stop guessing.

Keeping the ballot secret

The system records that a voter has voted, separately from what was chosen. The ballot itself carries no link to the voter, so nobody — including the administrators — can see how a particular person voted. Each voter can vote only once.

Positions and voting methods

• Choose one candidate, or several up to a limit
• YES / NO for unopposed candidates
• An abstain option where your rules allow it
• Ranked-choice (instant runoff) where you want a majority winner
• Write-in names, reviewed by the organisers after voting closes

Before launch: preview and readiness

A preview shows the ballot exactly as voters will see it, without recording anything, and a readiness check lists problems such as positions without candidates or voters without contact details before you launch.

After voting: results and records

Results stay hidden while voting is open. Afterwards the organisers can review them, export them (CSV, Excel, PDF or Word) and publish them. Published results carry a SHA-256 fingerprint that anyone can check, so the announced results can be shown not to have changed. Administrator actions are recorded in an audit log, and a fraud check flags unusual patterns — such as one browser used by many voters — for a person to review.

Practical tips

• Clean the voter list early; most problems on election day come from wrong phone numbers.
• Agree your rules (eligibility, positions, number of choices) before building the ballot.
• Run a small test election with the committee first.
• Tell voters in advance that their ID and key will arrive by SMS or email.