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Situation
During an election for its senior citizens council, the city of Frederiksberg in Denmark offered ballots in two ways—presenting voters the choice between paper and online ballots. Online polling provided a direct method for counting ballots, eliminating the need to scan them into the system.
Challenge
“The election was held online and 20,000 people were entitled to vote, so you might say that we have conducted a full-scale election,” said Bjørn Thomsen, deputy chief executive of Frederiksberg Kommune.
Solution
“We applied SPSS’ assistance for the project, and it all went smoothly,” Thomsen added. “The 8,000 traditional votes were scanned as fast as the poll staff could pile them up and the results were available immediately.
“However, the online poll allowed us to realize major savings and higher participation in the election, as well as obtain a more accurate result. The entire process was second to none. We have, therefore, written to the Minister of the Interior to recommend the same methods for the general election and referendums.”
Signed by Mayor Mads Lebech, the letter explains all of the benefits to be achieved from online polling, highlighting efficiency gains. The mayor encourages others to use this polling method whenever it is technically possible.
Results
“It has been said that it was not an appropriate target group to use for testing e-polling, but the voting indicates that senior citizens are fully confident with the new technology,” Thomsen said. “The turnout was better than the previous election, increasing by approximately 10 percent.”
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