This article references an older product of Assembly Voting, Assembly Voting X, which has now been replaced by our all-in-one voting solution Electa. To read more about Electa and what it has to offer, click here.
Pastors and ward members in the largest diocese in Denmark have just elected a new bishop with a tick on the electronic ballot paper. Assembly Voting delivered the election system for the election of a new bishop in Helsingør Diocese, who was elected with more than half of the votes.
It is the second time in Danish history that a new bishop has been elected digitally using Assembly Voting X. With 1527 eligible voters consisting of pastors and ward members of which 1302 casted their vote at the election, the turnout was 84 % in the battle for one of the highest offices within the Danish National Church.
The election act was initiated on September 22nd, and already one week into the first round of the election, almost half of the eligible voters had casted their vote electronically.
No doubt about the result
There was no doubt about the result when the first round of the election ended on October 13th. At this point, one of the four candidates had obtained more than half of the votes and could thereby already here be appointed as the new bishop of Denmark’s largest diocese, Helsingør Diocese.
The system used was Assembly Voting X, which is designed to secure full anonymity, integrity and ongoing independent control with all parts of the election act. At the same time, it is not possible to cast an invalid vote, and likewise, the voters always have the opportunity to revoke their vote throughout the entire opening period of the election. Thereby, they election system prevents any possible voting pressure.
Peter Birch got 53 % of the votes and enters into the episcopal see on February 1st, 2021, where he will supersede the current bishop, Lise-Lotte Rebel, who has been in the office since 1995. Read more Assembly Voting’s all-in-one online voting solution Electa here.
