ElectionBuddy vs POLYAS

ElectionBuddy helps organizations run virtual and in-person elections, votes, and meetings, from notifying voters through recording ballots, calculating outcomes, and announcing winners. Voters can participate remotely or during a meeting using a cellphone, computer, tablet, or mail. Supported systems include first past the post, cumulative, preferential ballot, STV, scored voting, rating scale, and approval voting. Organizers can customize ballots with multiple vacancies, randomized candidate or question order, edited descriptions, amendments, documents, and website links. Notifications can use email, mail, text, or an organization's existing channels. Listed integrations include Microsoft Azure SSO, WordPress, Zapier, and Zoom; APIs and webhooks connect voter lists and voting or registration activity with other systems. Results and voting processes can be independently reviewed and downloaded for inquiries or recounts while preserving voter anonymity. ElectionBuddy requires HTTPS with TLS and HSTS and encrypts payment data before sending it to Stripe. Customers own account data and can export it in XML, CSV, and Microsoft Excel formats. It supports Android, iOS, and web. Free options allow up to 20 voters; paid options include pay-per-use elections and meetings and annual subscriptions.

POLYAS provides online and live voting for elections, meetings, and organizational decisions. Its Online Voting Manager lets organizers create ballots, manage an electoral roll, schedule an election, and monitor turnout in real time. A free test election supports up to five test voters. Live Voting supports meeting votes and elections with remote participation, and results appear after voting closes. Self-service options include custom logos, voter groups, ballot weighting, email reminders, and iFrame embedding for Live Voting or CORE 3 voting. POLYAS says voting data is stored and processed within the European Union; its architecture separates identifying information from electronic ballots and anonymizes vote counting. The company says CORE 2.5.0 meets Common Criteria protection profile requirements. Its free Standard online voting plan covers up to 50 voters with CORE 3 Base, but excludes features and service. Listed paid plans have a €50 base price, with voter-count pricing applying. POLYAS is headquartered in Kassel, Germany, and was created as a corporate spin-off in 2012.