During the May 2022 Annual Town Meeting, Wayland’s citizens approved a resolution endorsing the use of wireless electronic voting for all sessions of all town meetings through fiscal year 2027. Instead of shouting out Aye or No, raising our hands, or standing to be counted, we’ll use electronic handsets to register our votes quickly, accurately, and privately during the upcoming Annual Town Meeting.
The handsets look a bit like a TV remote control, but instead of pushing buttons to change channels, we push buttons to vote: the 1 button for Yes, or the 2 button for No. Your vote is displayed on your handset’s screen and wirelessly transmitted to a computer that counts votes and displays results for the Moderator to announce. Nothing but these totals is permanently recorded, so your vote will remain private.
Town Meeting will be held in the High School Field House. You can use any check-in station; waiting in one line based on the first letter of your last name is no longer required. As you’re checking in, you’ll be issued a handset for your exclusive use during that session. Voting with a handset issued to anyone else is strictly forbidden.
If your phone, tablet, or laptop supports Wi-Fi, please disable this feature, as doing so will enhance performance of the electronic voting system.
Before each vote, the Moderator will summarize the motion or amendment being decided. She’ll then announce the beginning of a 30 second interval during which you can convey your vote, and a “voting light” near the Moderator will be illuminated. To vote Yes, push your handset’s 1 button while the “voting light” is illuminated. To vote No, push your handset’s 2 button while the “voting light” is illuminated. If you accidentally push the wrong button, you can change your vote by pushing the correct button while the “voting light” is illuminated. If you don’t want to participate in a particular vote, don’t push any buttons while the “voting light” is illuminated; if you don’t want to participate but accidentally push the 1 button or the 2 button, you can clear your unintentional vote by pushing the 3 button while the “voting light” is illuminated. When the 30 second interval is over, the “voting light” will be extinguished, and the Moderator will announce that the vote is complete; shortly thereafter, the Moderator will announce the results.
You should check-in at least 5 minutes before a vote to be certain that your handset can be used in that vote. If pushing your handset’s 1 button or 2 button during a vote produces a can’t vote yet message on its display, please alert the Moderator, and then go to the Help Desk, where you’ll be provided with a paper ballot to record your vote.
If you inadvertently turn your handset off by pushing the power button in its lower-right corner, its display will be blank; push the power button briefly to turn your handset back on. Pushing any of your handset’s other buttons during the voting interval will not change your vote, but for peace of mind, your handset will encourage you to Re-Vote; push the 1 button for Yes or the 2 button for No.
If you temporarily leave your seat during the meeting, please keep your handset with you. If you’re visiting the restroom, you can leave your handset with the Exit Desk staff. When you leave the Field House – either during a session or at the close of a session – please place your handset in one of the bins at the Exit Desks. If you forget to turn in your handset, we’ll give you a call the next day and ask you to return it.
Every handset will be tested before each session of Town Meeting, so the probability of a handset failing is very low. That said, if pushing your handset’s 1 button or 2 button during a vote does not produce an Yes or No on its display, please alert the Moderator, and then go to the Help Desk, where you’ll be provided with a paper ballot to record your vote, and you’ll be issued a new handset. We don’t expect this to happen, but like the Boy Scouts, we’ll be prepared.
If you’re physically unable to use a handset to vote, inform the person who checks you in, and you’ll be seated in an area where your votes will be manually counted by Help Desk personnel. If you’re wondering how much radio energy is used by a handset to convey your vote wirelessly, it’s less than 1% that of a typical cell phone and only for brief instants, employing the same frequencies used for Wi-Fi wireless internet access.
ELVIS: Wayland’s Electronic Voting Implementation Subcommittee
