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Keypad Polling is a wireless voting technology. It can be used to enable community participation in events and to bring a focus to discussion and decision making. The purpose of the E-Voting project is to provide a mechanism to maximize meaningful resident participation in local decision making.

The technology comprises a number of hand held keypads (similar to TV remote controls) which communicate using radio frequencies with a base station. This base station is connected to a laptop computer which in turn is linked to a VGA projector that displays onto a projection screen. The laptop runs a program called "OptionFinder" that enables multiple choice questions or rating statements (or both) to be displayed on the screen along with numbered responses. Participants vote anonymously by selecting the number on their keypad that best represents their preference. The result of the group vote is displayed on the projection screen within seconds. The project team also works with clients to prepare suitable questionnaires and produce report documents that analyse voting results.

Benefits:

• The Software is a plug-in to PowerPoint, which helps integrate the polling into the process.

• Meetings utilizing keypad polling are engaging for residents of all ages.

• The polling enables everyone in the meeting to see the demographics of the attendees early on and shows how well the audience represents the targeted audience.

• The instant results helps the audience recognize where they stand relative to the attitudes of a majority of the community

• Keypad polling entices citizens that would not otherwise attend the a public meeting.

• Keypad polling prevents a vocal minority from dominating the discussions.

Challenges:

• Because the keypads only allow voting numbers between 0 and 10, the quality of feedback received is limited.