Secret ballots

Before you start

• Secrecy is set per agenda item. There is no setting for the whole meeting. A new item starts as an open vote.
• Which items can be secret. Resolutions, elections, polls and consent agendas. For elections, the voting methods Single choice and Ranked (STV) can be secret, including elections with more than one seat.
• Which cannot. Approval poll items, and elections using Free allocation, where a voter spreads votes across candidates: their ballots are recorded against the voter’s name, and a secret ballot is stored as one non-attributed record.
• Decide before voting opens. Once voting has opened on the item, its secrecy is frozen and cannot be changed. The same applies once the item holds advance votes: saving a change is then refused with "This item already holds advance votes, so its wording, choices and advance voting can no longer change."
• Plan. Secret ballots are included on every current plan, Free included.

Make an item a secret ballot

1. Open the meeting from your dashboard and go to its agenda.
2. Add a new item with Add agenda item, or open an existing item in Edit agenda item.
3. Choose an item type that produces a ballot: Resolution, Election, Poll or Consent agenda. For an election, choose Single choice or Ranked (STV) as the voting method.
4. Tick Secret ballot. Its helper text reads: "Individual choices are not stored against the voter’s name. Who voted is still recorded, for quorum and audit."
5. Read the line under Voters will see. It shows the sentence your voters will get (see the table below).
6. Save the item.

If the box is greyed out with "Not available for …", the item's type or voting method cannot be secret. Change the method, or leave the item as an open vote. If it says "Locked: voting has opened on this item", the item's secrecy can no longer be changed.

What voters are told

Assembley chooses the sentence from the voting weights of the members eligible for the item:

Your register	Voters see
Every eligible voter holds the same number of votes in the member register	"Secret ballot. Your choice is not linked to your name."
Weights differ, for example shares of different sizes	"Secret ballot. Names are hidden in the result."

The weaker sentence is used where weights differ because the ballot still carries the voter's weight, and a distinctive holding could in principle be recognised. It is also used if the register cannot be read. Assembley reads the weights from the member register, so a meeting that counts one vote per member can still show the second sentence. Meetings where members register themselves count one vote each, so they get the first sentence.

What you see as the organiser

• While voting is open: the number of ballots cast, but not the choices. The Results tab says: "Voting on this item is still open. As a secret ballot, its choices are shown only once it closes", followed by the number of ballots so far.
• After the item closes: the totals per choice. No voter names are listed for the item, and the Results tab marks it Secret ballot.
• Ranked (STV) elections: the outcome and the quota only. How ballots moved between candidates in each round is not shown, because a single transferred ballot could reveal one voter's next preference.
• Who voted: Assembley still records that each member voted on the item, and uses it for quorum and turnout. It does not record which choice they made.
• Minutes: each secret item carries the notice "This item used a secret ballot. Each choice is recorded without the voter's identity. Only the aggregate result, the set of ballot identifiers (nullifiers), and the Merkle root of the ballots are published."
• Evidence package: individual ballots of secret items are left out of the identified ballot list. The ZIP adds a separate file with the non-attributed record of each secret item.

What voters see

1. Above the ballot: a notice with the sentence from the table, and "The fact that you voted is still recorded." Where the meeting has a quorum requirement, it adds: "so it counts toward the quorum."
2. After voting: "Your secret ballot has been recorded." The voter's choice is not shown again, on that page or later.
3. When the meeting ends: the voter's ended screen lists Your secret ballot code(s), with Copy, Save and a link to email the codes to themselves. Each code shows that a ballot was counted, never how it was cast. On a shared meeting panel at the venue, Copy may be missing and the email link is not offered.

The codes are given when the meeting ends, and each code is listed in the meeting's evidence package. The codes are kept only in the browser that cast the ballots. A voter who voted on another device, or cleared their browser, still has a counted vote, but cannot see its code. The voting page tells them so.

A secret ballot cannot be changed once cast. A second attempt is refused with "A vote has already been recorded on this item, and it cannot be cast twice."

Proxies and advance votes

• Proxy holders cast a separate secret ballot for each member they represent. The record shows the represented member as having voted. The verification code stays with the holder, who cast the ballot; the member they represent cannot check it.
• Advance votes on a secret item are final once cast. No running total is available before the item closes.

Settings and what they do

Setting	Where	What it does
Secret ballot	Add agenda item, Edit agenda item	Makes the item a secret ballot. Off by default. Frozen once voting opens or advance votes exist.
Secret ballot	Template editor, on plans with templates	Saves the item as a secret ballot in the template.

On plans with templates, saving a meeting as a template keeps each item's secrecy setting.

Common mistakes

• Setting secrecy too late. Once voting has opened on the item, the box is locked, and its notice reads: "Locked: voting has opened on this item. Ballot secrecy is frozen once voting starts, so it can no longer be changed." Set it while you build the agenda.
• Expecting live results. On a secret item you see only the ballot count until the item closes.
• Closing a secret item too early. Once a secret item has received votes, it cannot be reopened: "This is a secret ballot and it has already received votes, so voting on it cannot be reopened."
• Choosing a method that cannot be secret. On an Approval poll or a Free allocation election, the Secret ballot box switches off and is greyed out. If a template brings in such an item as secret, going live is refused until you turn off the secret ballot or change the voting method.
• Voters closing the browser for good. Codes appear when the meeting ends, in the browser that cast the ballot. Tell voters who want their code to come back to the same browser.

This page is general information, not legal advice. Rules change and your articles of association may differ, so check the current rules or ask an adviser before you rely on it.