Hundreds of small, medium-sized, and large companies from all sectors successfully used Elegio during the past two social elections. Given that the feedback from these companies was overwhelmingly positive, we want to explain in this article the differences between an electronic and a traditional polling station (voting on paper). This will make it easier for you to decide whether to conduct the next social elections electronically or not.  

What does an electronic polling station look like? 

In electronic voting, the polling stations are dematerialised. This means that there is no need to provide physical polling stations for the various categories of employees and the different polling stations and locations where the company has installed a polling station. This brings benefits in the organisation of the elections and makes it easier for voters to cast their votes. The fact is that:

• regardless of the location or physical site of the company where the voter casts their vote, the ballot papers effectively end up in the correct polling station (combination of organ - OR or CPBW - and category - employee, manager, worker or young employee);
• while the physical polling stations must be monitored and sealed both in the polling areas and during transport, the electronic polling stations do not need to be physically installed (logistical advantage). They can indeed be monitored at a central point.

Additionally, the chair of the main polling station and the witnesses or union representatives can, if desired, follow in real-time how many votes have already been cast and what the status of the election is (note: in a subsequent article, we will look at how you, as a non-IT person, can verify an electronic vote). 

The advantage of electronic polling stations is that they are dematerialised, and their location is independent of the various locations.

As far as the voter is concerned, their ballots for a specific organ and category always end up in the correct polling station. Unlike paper voting, there is no risk of errors or manipulation regarding the ballot papers.

What do the polling stations look like? 

Each polling station must consist of six roles, as stipulated in the law concerning social elections. These roles are:

• 1 chairperson of the polling station
• 1 secretary
• 4 tellers

In polling stations with physical, 'paper' ballot boxes, a call must be made on six different individuals, multiplied by the number of polling stations. In polling stations with electronic ballot boxes (dematerialised), these same six individuals can fulfil these six roles in each polling station thanks to the management and administration tool. This is because:

• on the one hand, due to the dematerialised nature of the ballot boxes, there are no physical ballot boxes in each polling station that would otherwise all need to be managed separately and checked locally;
• on the other hand, the control and management of the ballot boxes by the chairperson and the tellers is done via a central interface that does not require physical presence at the same location as the physical ballot boxes (which do not exist in electronic voting). 

Apart from the legal requirement of the six roles, the organisation may also decide to grant access to a monitoring screen (in real-time/read-only) for the witness trade union delegates (who do not necessarily need to be present at any of the polling stations). In this way, the trade unions have a tool to encourage employees to participate and cast their votes during the social elections.

Electronic voting increases both quantity and quality
From the testimonies and experiences of companies that partially or fully used electronic voting during the recent local elections, it appears that the great flexibility offered by electronic ballot boxes is appreciated not only by the organisers of the elections (HR team), but also by the social partners. They believe that this way, the elections improve both quantitatively (number of voters) and qualitatively (social event).