Electronic voting increases efficiency at South Caribbean Conference session
Delegates to the session of the South Caribbean Conference are not holding up cards to vote as they have in past years. Instead, for the first time, they are voting by pressing a button on the specially developed app on their cell phone
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President of the South Caribbean Conference, Pastor Leslie Moses, displays the platform from which delegates to the session are able to use for electronic voting. Delegates are able to vote, view the reports and access their meals using the designated platform. Image by South Caribbean Conference Social Media Team
Delegates to the session of the South Caribbean Conference are not holding up cards to vote as they have in past years. Instead, for the first time, they are voting by pressing a button on the specially developed app on their cell phone.
Votes are tallied instantly, and final results are displayed on the screen for all to see. Church leaders say the use of technology will bring greater accuracy to votes and offer anonymity, potentially relieving pressure from some people who may be reluctant to vote because of these reasons.
Mario Modeste developed and built a service management application for the session. The services cater for shuttling, meals, registration and attendance. “The use of this platform will demonstrate how technology can be used to facilitate the processes at large events. It would show how users and resources can be easily managed,” he commented.
Several delegates could be seen engaged in the process using the electronic voting platform. Image by South Caribbean Conference Media Team
“Church officials at the conference believe that the new system is more efficient. In past sessions, votes were tallied by officials counting how many delegates held up voting cards, which took time.” said Kyle Roach from the East Caribbean Conference. Kyle developed the platform used for the session for the first time.
“We want to be transparent and fair, and I think this is a great step forward.” The developer stated.
Dr. Balvin Braham, Vice President of the church in the Inter-American Division expressed his gratitude for this new system, “Electronic voting is definitely filtering across the territory; it's the way of the church now to embrace technology.”
Every registered delegate has access to the private voting credentials that will allow them to log on to the voting platform whenever needed. “If you are not registered you will not have access to the platform,” Kyle advised. “We can verify after the fact that each voter is a valid voter and has voted only once. The system is always set at the default of anonymous voting. No one can see how you voted. Not your fellow delegates, not administrators. None of us are able to determine how a voter has voted on a specific issue.”
President of the Caribbean Union Conference, Dr. Kern Tobias and his wife Linda Tobias, Associate Ministerial Secretary for the Caribbean Union cooperated with the innovation of voting using the digital platform. Image by South Caribbean Conference Media Team
President of the South Caribbean Conference, Pastor Leslie Moses shared, “We wanted to ensure that we selected a voting platform that was secure, stable, easy to use, and it maintained our election integrity, and the votes remained anonymous.”
“A good innovation for these times,” said Pastor Anthony Hall, President and Communication Director of the East Caribbean Conference. “The use of an auditor to verify the results should be considered."
Since the COVID-19 pandemic emerged, Church leaders have been looking for a system that allows for online voting to be secure and to provide anonymity to the delegates.”
Leaders commended the South Caribbean Conference for the way they embraced technology in order to advance the mission of the church.