Help/FAQ for users of the CESvotes service.

  1. About Civica Election Services (CES)

    Formerly known as Electoral Reform Services (ERS), we have over 100 years' experience of administering elections, ballots and consultation processes and are proud to be the UK's leading provider of election services.

  2. I am having technical problems.

    There may be a local connectivity problem. Many problems are solved if you simply close and reopen your browser or clear your browser cache. In more serious cases you may need to reboot your device.

    If you are using a workplace connection and have poor network performance or permission issues please contact your local technical resources.

    This site should support most common browsers including all recent versions of Chrome, Safari, Internet Explorer, Firefox & Edge. If you encounter any difficulties with these or any other browsers please contact us.

    The site is optimised to work with most common mobile devices. If you experience any difficulties while using a smartphone or tablet to access the site please try from another device or contact us.

  3. I cannot find the CESvotes website that I am searching for.

    CESvotes websites are only available for the duration of the electoral project and so they do not typically appear in internet search results such as Google, Yahoo or Bing. Typing the website address into the address bar of your browser will take you directly to the log-in page. If you received your voting instructions by email then the email will usually contain a hyperlink to the website that can be opened.

  4. The system won't accept my Security Code.

    Please double check that you have typed your Security Code correctly (there should be no spaces) into the appropriate boxes for 'Part One' and 'Part Two'. Your Security Code may have been prepopulated for you by a unique link contained in your email.

  5. The Security Code has already been populated, should I continue?

    If you have been emailed your voting instructions then we usually embed your Security Code in a unique link. This saves you from having to copy over the Security Code from the email into the login page making it more convenient, but no less secure, to login. Each voter's link is unique and will populate a different Security Code on the login page.

  6. Why do you send both parts of my security code together, how is that secure?

    Each voter is given a unique two part Security Code to use to log-in. The Security Code is split into two parts to make it easier to read and to type in to the log-in page; it is not in two parts to make it more secure. The Security Code is single-use and so, unlike a password to other secure online transactions, serves no purpose once it has been used.

  7. How secure is the CESvotes service?

    We want you to be secure when visiting our site and we are committed to maintaining your privacy when doing so. Further information is available on our Policy Statement. CES has physical security in our facilities to protect against the loss, theft, misuse, or alteration of information. There are also different layers of security implemented throughout our website platform, for example hardware and application firewalls; intrusion detection systems; and SSL encryption.

  8. The system says I've already voted.

    Once you have clicked the Submit button to confirm your vote, you cannot come back later to change your vote and the system will prevent anyone from logging in again using the same Security Code.

  9. I encountered an error OR my internet connection was interrupted during voting, has my vote been recorded?

    Try logging in again, if the vote was recorded properly the system will prevent you from voting again; if the vote was not recorded, the system will allow you to log in.

  10. I am a visually impaired or disabled internet user and require special software or tools to browse the internet. Is the website compatible with my system?

    We have tested the website on the most common browsers, and incorporated principles of accessibility into the website design wherever possible. If you encounter any difficulties, or have suggestions for improvement, please do contact us with a description of the assistive technology you are using and your feedback.

  11. There is a document on the website that I cannot open.

    To open any PDF documents on the website you will need to have Adobe Reader installed, it can be downloaded for free from the Adobe website.

Technical support

If you experience any technical problems with the website which are not resolved by the suggestions in the above FAQ, please contact us. We will need as much information as possible to investigate the problem, including:

  • The name of the election and electoral constituency in which you are entitled to vote;
  • Part One of your Security Code;
  • The date and time you tried to vote;
  • The exact error message, if any, you received;
  • The device you are using (e.g. PC, iPad) and the type and version of your browser;
  • What type of connection you are using (e.g. broadband (ADSL), leased line, public Wi-Fi, 3G/4G).

We will investigate the problem and let you know what we find as soon as we can.

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