Cambridge Union Society E-Voting Policies

The The Cambridge Union Society, which is the world's oldest university debating society, is also (along with the Oxford Union) generally considered to be a premier training ground for young political aspirants in the UK.

Most of our officers are democratically elected by our many thousands of members. Since elected positions are seen as a valuable career step, they are highly competitive, and fair election rules & processes are essential.

During the Union Society's transition to an all-electronic online voting system, I repeatedly served as a returning officer for numerous elections and by-elections. In addition to all of the normal responsibilities of a returning officer, my role had a special technical component. This involved the development of transitional election policies, as well as the technical development required to establish and maintain valid voter lists.

I also served as an advisor within the process of developing improved election regulations to account for opportunities afforded by online voting and online election campaigns. The final, excellent rules were drafted by Giles Robertson and later updated by William Redfern, as part of his constitutional revision project alongside Taylor Vinters LLC.