Weighted voting is an electoral system in which all votes are valid, but not equally tabulated. Each voter or representative’s voting power is based on the size of their electorate or stake; their individual level of status or expertise; or according to predefined organizational rules.

Vocdoni has implemented weighted voting in both Aragon Voice (for DAOs/crypto firms), and the Vocdoni app & Voting-as-a-Service API (for traditional organizations), allowing organizations to quickly and easily assign individual voters a proportional weight based on their determined influence. Our implementation enables organizations to maintain transparency by exceeding all reporting requirements, as well as prove the integrity of a vote with a universally verifiable proof. Thus, voters do not have to blindly trust the result of a vote for they can verify it themselves.

Ideal use-cases of our weighted voting technology include:

• National representative elections, to correlate constituency size with vote weight.

• Shareholder, board and partner meetings, where individuals’ votes must correspond to their ownership percentage.

• Employee votes, where seniority confers a greater influence on the company’s future.

• Homeowners’ associations, to represent the size of each member’s respective property.

• Professional & members’ associations and unions, to reflect organizational seniority.

• DAOs and crypto organizations seeking to reward long-term stakeholders with increased leverage.

As well as simplifying the process for voters and officials, Vocdoni offers real-time voting analytics by default, enabling anyone to monitor the vote distribution live, and gain key insights into how the vote unfolds. After the vote has concluded, the results are instantly and automatically calculated according to the weighting, and can easily be shared.

The success case outlined below will help illustrate how a weighted voting process might work, and how users can vote.

Success Case: Professional Association of Industrial Engineers of Catalonia (COEIC)

On December 18th, 2021, the Professional Association of Industrial Engineers of Catalonia (COEIC) conducted two in-person processes with weighted voting using Vocdoni. Voters could participate on their personal mobiles or via one of three laptops provided by the Association. Handouts containing a scannable QR code, a unique web address, and a short alphanumeric string corresponding to their login credentials, were distributed at the registration desk, according to the delegated votes each member possessed. Voters could access the Vocdoni platform by either scanning the QR code or inputting the link and credential string.

Most of the ~50 -predominantly senior- participants chose to vote on their phones, although ~10 elected to use the laptops, while the organization’s Secretary borrowed the Chairman’s mobile after he logged out. The ballot boxes were scheduled to open at 19:00 and close at 19:45, with the process announced at the end of the meeting, around 19:40. Despite our concerns about the voters having only five minutes to vote, everyone participated successfully (perhaps owing to how ubiquitous QR codes have become in our post-Covid world). The results were instantly presented to attendees, with both votes passing.

The number of simple voting methods available to potential participants renders Vocdoni much more accessible than competitor platforms requiring members/stakeholders to remember complex login details or use a specific device. Moreover, its instantaneous results make it ideal for organizations wanting to hold a vote after a meeting or presentation that will be completed before the event has finished.

Learn more at vocdoni.app.