Case Study: Scottish Government achieves fast, accurate election counting with CGI eCounting

Scottish Government counts 4.7 million ballot papers in a day with CGI

The Scottish Government faced the challenge of implementing a new, highly reliable eCounting system for its complex Single Transferable Vote elections. With 4.7 million ballot papers needing to be counted accurately across 32 councils in a single day, there was no room for error following a previous failed attempt. CGI was selected to work with software partner Opt2vote to deliver a solution.

CGI's solution involved extensive testing, including processing 165,000 ballots in a single bulk test and conducting a live disaster recovery test by pulling the power plug mid-count. On election day, the eCounting system delivered results with unprecedented speed and accuracy; the first count was completed by 10:30 am and all results were declared by 6:15 pm. The system's precision was proven when a recount yielded an identical result to five decimal places, astonishing election officials with its reliability and efficiency.

Scottish Government