Simply Voting ensures ballot privacy and allows for anonymity of individual votes. Voters will login to the system using a system generated password. Voters arrive at the Simply Voting gateway by clicking on a hyperlink that is supplied to them for the purpose of voting in the election.
If login is successful, the voter sees a menu listing all ongoing elections in which they are eligible to vote. The voter clicks on the relevant election link and ballot forms are displayed. The order of candidates is randomly displayed for each voter.
To vote, the voter chooses from the list of candidates and, for optional preferential elections, can rank the candidates in order of preference. Voters will be asked to confirm their choice. The electronic ballot form will the display the vote with the chosen options. A message advising voters to review their choices is displayed and voters will be able to either confirm or change their vote.
To change the selection of candidates, a voter selects the ‘Change’ option. Ballot forms are displayed again and the voter will be able to continue until satisfied with their selection.
Once the voter selects the ‘Confirm’ option and the vote is accepted, the system will show that the voter has voted in the relevant election. Once the system has confirmed the vote, it will not be possible for the voter to vote again in the election.
Votes are encrypted and stored in a database and the system records that the voter has cast their vote. It is not possible to vote more than once in an election.