Assembley vs CharterVote

Assembley is web software for organisations running general assemblies and member votes. It covers invitations, attendance registration, agenda management, and vote recording for online, in-person, and hybrid meetings. Organisers can offer Yes, No, or Abstain voting, secret ballots, board elections, and split voting, while tracking live results and quorum. Voters receive single-use ballot links and can participate without an account, password, or app. Organisations can upload shareholder or member registers as CSV files; Assembley checks them for duplicates and errors. Its evidence package brings together the event chain, Merkle roots, attendance, and results for independent verification. Assembley says votes are write-once at the database level, with hash-chained event logs and Merkle roots supporting auditability. Its database and application run in Frankfurt, Germany, while transactional mail is sent from Ireland; two sub-processor agreements specify primary processing in the United States. It says it processes data under GDPR and provides a Data Processing Agreement on paid plans, but holds no third-party security certification. Starter is free forever; Basic costs €149/ yr.

CharterVote is a web platform for associations and member bodies to run board elections, motions, referenda, and quick polls. Members verify eligibility once and receive accreditation for a single ballot, which they can cast anonymously using an access code without making a CharterVote account. Members can check whether ballot receipts were included, compare published results with retained evidence, and verify winner certificates through public checks. CharterVote says it uses HTTPS with strict security headers and rate limits sensitive actions. It says it collects only data needed for an election and lets account holders export or erase their data. Enterprise elections can split the ballot-box key among trustees so no single person, including CharterVote, can open results alone. The service is intended for groups such as unions, cooperatives, professional associations, faith groups, alumni networks, and student bodies. The free Starter plan covers up to 25 eligible voters per election, with results and hosted verification kept for 365 days. Paid elections start at $119, paid once for up to 250 voters. Verification does not establish voter identity or intent, device security, or events outside the platform.