Civica helps MPs elect Committee chairs by remote voting for first time

13th May 2020

A 2020 lockdown success - Civica helps UK MPs elect Committee chairs by remote voting for the first time.

Civica Election Services recently administered the first ever online ballot to elect two new Select Committee chairs. MPs would usually vote in person in Select Committee Chair ballots, but new temporary procedures to enable MPs to participate remotely meant MPs were able to cast their votes remotely for the first time using Civica's CESvotes software. 

The historic ballot saw MPs elect the chairs of the two Commons committees without being present in the House of Commons to respect social distancing rules. The security of Civica’s system was extensively tested by the Parliamentary Digital Service before being made available to the House.

Sian Roberts, Executive Director for Democracy & Engagement at Civica, said: 

“I’m proud that our team were able to support MPs with this historic first digital ballot. It is so important to ensure that essential democratic processes like these appointments can continue, even with social distancing measures in place. We have always been at the forefront of digital democracy, having administered the first online voting project in the UK in 2000. It’s great to be able to draw on that experience to support our customers in these challenging times.”

Civica’s Democracy & Engagement team has been working to support a variety of customers to switch to online ballots and remote voting to ensure that elections, ballots and voting in AGMs are able to continue. Civica has also been supporting many local authorities with their move to remote meetings for councils and committees. Modern.Gov, Civica's paperless meeting and governance solution, is introducing new In-App Voting functionality to support democratic decision-making.