The Diocese of Freiburg had started planning their 2020 online election of parish councils long before the outbreak of the COVID pandemic. However, the initially planned postal voting with 1.6 million eligible voters was cancelled due to the very first lockdown. Martin Müller, pastoral advisor and managing director of the Freiburg Diocesan Council, tells us in a #customerinterview how a remarkable voter turnout was nevertheless achieved in the largest online election to date with POLYAS.
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At the latest with the occurrence of corona, the question of IT security in virtual voting has become even more important. We are repeatedly being asked how we protect the data of eligible voters and improve the security of voting. So we put the question to somebody who should know: Our colleague Vasko Hristov has been a member of the POLYAS data protection team for a long time and is an expert on IT security.
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The Covid-19 pandemic is turning the working world upside down. Recent weeks and months have seen radical changes to the way that work is conceived and organized in companies, associations, trade unions and other institutions. What was previously unthinkable is now a part of everyday digital working: Virtual meetings, home office, digital conferences and online polls. In this article, we explore the effects of this radical change, how big the change is, and the opportunities that come with the push for digitalization. Continue reading
Being an election manager at POLYAS is not a usual job says Senior Election Manager Alexander Akbik. It not only about taking care of the customer but also ensuring the precise conduction of the election. Alex told us about his day-to-day business, what he likes most about it and why he is convinced by online voting. Continue reading
Digital national elections and E-voting is the future despite recent negative press surrounding the German national elections. Read about how half measures are endangering democracy and the impact of online voting.
POLYAS is continuing to develop its presence in the Italian market. For the second time this year, POLYAS will be making the trip over the Alps to take part in the SMAU technology fair on the 8th and 9th of July. Continue reading
E-Democracy is a form of digital participation that’s popping up more regularly these days. As a buzzword it’s being thrown around in politics and on social media alike and has more than a few people rubbing their hands in anticipation. In the first part of our new series on the future of democracy in the digital world, we are looking at E-Democracy.
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From the 30th to the 31st of March we were at the SMAU fair in Padua to present our online voting system and to meet the innovators driving the Italian tech market.
Codetermination is a corporate governance system which allows for greater employee participation in the running of a company. The system has a long history in Germany and is deeply entrenched in the country’s corporate culture. Read on to learn more about codetermination in the digital era. Continue reading
Today we are talking to Mr Veltkamp from the University of Osnabrück, Germany, who recently decided to conduct their university elections with POLYAS’ online voting system. In the interview below, Mr Veltkamp explains why his university decided to vote online and how their election transpired.
We spoke to Ms Friedrich, the division manager of the board of directors at VR Bank Kitzingen eG about their recent representative election which they conducted with POLYAS. They were able to increase their voter turnout and reduce time lost managing their elections while simultaneously cutting costs. We caught up with Ms Friedrich to ask her about why the bank chose to offer online voting.
Democratic engagement is an issue. We know it and the European Commission knows it. Voter registration, engagement in the political processes and, crucially, voter turnout are problems as old as democracy itself, which unsurprisingly continue to present challenges in the 21st century. The Commission has, however, released a grant for new technologies to have a go at solving it.