Hybrid voting: combining on-site ballots and online voting
Do you have to choose between paper and online voting? For many companies, the answer is: neither, exclusively. Hybrid voting lets you combine the two in a single election, giving each population the channel that suits it. Here is when it makes sense, what the law allows, and how the results combine.
What hybrid voting is
Hybrid voting means letting several voting methods coexist in the same election. Concretely:
- part of the staff votes online, from their workstation or remotely,
- another part votes on paper or on an on-site kiosk.
The votes cast through the different channels are then totalled together for the seat allocation. It is a single election, with several entry doors.
What the law allows
Belgian law is flexible on this point. The vote can take place in different ways: on paper on the premises, electronically on the premises, remotely by post, or remotely by electronic means. And crucially, companies can combine these methods. Each organisation chooses a fully or partially digital vote, the number of polling stations, the number of ballot boxes, where and how people vote.
In other words, hybrid is not an exception that needs to be tolerated: it is a possibility foreseen by the legal framework, provided the usual rules are respected (secrecy, reliability, works council or CPPW agreement for the electronic part).
Who hybrid really suits
Hybrid voting comes into its own in companies with contrasting populations. A typical case: a firm that employs both office staff, with a work email and comfortable with a screen, and field, workshop or shift workers, often without a work email and without a fixed workstation.
Forcing everyone into a single channel excludes part of the workforce. Hybrid solves this:
- office employees vote online from their workstation,
- field staff vote on a kiosk installed in the workshop, or receive personal codes to vote on a smartphone,
- those who prefer paper keep that option.
Everyone votes through the channel that speaks to them, and nobody is left out.
How the results combine
This is the technical question that sometimes worries people. The answer is simple: each channel produces its votes, and all votes are added together. The D'Hondt seat allocation is calculated on this overall total, with no distinction by the channel through which a vote was cast. A paper vote and an online vote carry exactly the same weight. With an electronic system, this consolidation is automatic and instant at close of poll; the only remaining manual step concerns any paper ballots to integrate.
Points to watch
Hybrid voting calls for a little more coordination upstream:
- carefully map the populations to assign the right channel to each,
- frame the works council or CPPW agreement on the electronic part,
- organise the logistics of kiosks or paper where needed,
- and above all, communicate clearly who votes how, to avoid confusion.
Well prepared, hybrid combines the best of both worlds: the accessibility of digital and the familiarity of paper.
In short
Hybrid voting combines, in a single election, online voting and paper or kiosk voting, then adds all votes together for the D'Hondt seat allocation. The law allows and foresees it. It mainly suits companies mixing office employees and field staff, sparing them from excluding a population by imposing a single channel. The price: a little more coordination upstream.
To compare the two voting methods before deciding to combine them, read Electronic vs paper voting in social elections: the full comparison. And if you want to design a hybrid setup tailored to your populations, let's talk.
