Code Based Voting
Code-based voting is a specific type of project on your Bpart platform. Participants in a code-based voting project can vote on published contributions using a unique code. This unique code can be a national registry number or identity card number, or it can be a random code printed on - for example - a residents' letter.
This article is about correctly creating different types of codes you can use.
In Bpart we upload hashed codes according to the sha3-512 hashing key. So we store the codes, e.g., national registry numbers, not in readable form. You can upload these hashed codes yourself in Bpart, or provide them to us.
The preparation is done in four steps:
Creating a list of correct codes
Create test codes
Hashing codes
Upload hashes into Bpart
Bpart code based voting only works with numeric codes. Below you can read how to create such codes yourself or how to convert an existing list of codes to numeric codes.
Do you create codes yourself? Great! Remember to only use numeric codes. In other words, do not use letters or special characters. You can create random numbers in Excel or use the Bpart code generator for this.
You have a list of codes, such as state registry numbers. Also great! To ensure that citizens can vote smoothly, you want to upload a clean, numeric version of said codes in Bpart. We need to remove all non-numeric characters such as hyphens, periods or other separators.
You can use the Bpart number extractor to do this. Copy and paste the codes into the field (e.g., 12.34.56-789.99) and generate the numeric values (e.g., 1234567899).
What about for a citizen/participant?
A citizen or participant can enter his or her code or number in different ways when voting: with or without spaces, with special characters ... This is not a problem: the Bpart platform strips all non-numeric characters before it performs the verification - also via hashing - on the code.
You now have a list of codes. Add ten (or more) test codes to it, so you can test the setup and voting without having to use real codes!
We upload the numeric codes securely into Bpart. We apply the SHA3-512 hashing key. You can use the Bpart code hasher for this.
Copy and paste the numeric codes into the field and hash them using the 'hash now' function. Copy and paste the hashes that appear into a new excel file. Save the document as an xlsx or csv document.
Go to the "voting" section of your project and under "voters" or "voters" upload the document with hashes. Via the "new" button you can also upload 1 specific hash.
Be careful with leading zeros for persons born in the period 2000 - 2009. Their national number starts with 1 or 2 zeros, which are sometimes hidden or removed by Excel. Check this carefully.
Provide a clean list of numeric codes. Any other form of data (spaces, special characters, letters ...) that you hash with will cause voting problems.
Provide some test codes, ideally in the same format as the real codes.
Don't forget to set your vote settings or voting settings correctly (e.g. max 1 vote).
Government in Flanders? Discover how you can use our itsme (mijn burgerprofiel) integration.
Need help or support? Don't hesitate to contact us at support@bpart.be !
This article is about correctly creating different types of codes you can use.
| When to use code-based voting? | Voting with a unique code is appropriate when it is crucial that only a certain group of people (e.g. residents of a certain district, municipality or city) can cast a vote. Think for example of projects where money is distributed, such as a participatory budget project. |
|---|---|
| When NOT to use code-based voting? | For more accessible voting, where it is less crucial that only a certain group of people decide, we recommend using the regular registration and login of the participation platform. For example when awarding a culture prize, choosing new locations for benches or voting for a new name. |
Uploading your codes in a secure way
In Bpart we upload hashed codes according to the sha3-512 hashing key. So we store the codes, e.g., national registry numbers, not in readable form. You can upload these hashed codes yourself in Bpart, or provide them to us.
The preparation is done in four steps:
Creating a list of correct codes
Create test codes
Hashing codes
Upload hashes into Bpart
Useful tools for code based voting
| Name | Description | Link |
|---|---|---|
| Code generator | Create new random codes | click here |
| Number Extractor | Create clean, numeric codes from a list | click here |
| Code hasher | hash numeric codes with SHA3-512 | click here |
How do I create correct numeric codes?
Bpart code based voting only works with numeric codes. Below you can read how to create such codes yourself or how to convert an existing list of codes to numeric codes.
Option 1: create your own numeric codes
Do you create codes yourself? Great! Remember to only use numeric codes. In other words, do not use letters or special characters. You can create random numbers in Excel or use the Bpart code generator for this.
Option 2: use existing codes.
You have a list of codes, such as state registry numbers. Also great! To ensure that citizens can vote smoothly, you want to upload a clean, numeric version of said codes in Bpart. We need to remove all non-numeric characters such as hyphens, periods or other separators.
You can use the Bpart number extractor to do this. Copy and paste the codes into the field (e.g., 12.34.56-789.99) and generate the numeric values (e.g., 1234567899).
What about for a citizen/participant?
A citizen or participant can enter his or her code or number in different ways when voting: with or without spaces, with special characters ... This is not a problem: the Bpart platform strips all non-numeric characters before it performs the verification - also via hashing - on the code.
Add test codes
You now have a list of codes. Add ten (or more) test codes to it, so you can test the setup and voting without having to use real codes!
How do I hash the numeric codes?
We upload the numeric codes securely into Bpart. We apply the SHA3-512 hashing key. You can use the Bpart code hasher for this.
Copy and paste the numeric codes into the field and hash them using the 'hash now' function. Copy and paste the hashes that appear into a new excel file. Save the document as an xlsx or csv document.
How do I load the hashes into Bpart?
Go to the "voting" section of your project and under "voters" or "voters" upload the document with hashes. Via the "new" button you can also upload 1 specific hash.
Points of attention
Be careful with leading zeros for persons born in the period 2000 - 2009. Their national number starts with 1 or 2 zeros, which are sometimes hidden or removed by Excel. Check this carefully.
Provide a clean list of numeric codes. Any other form of data (spaces, special characters, letters ...) that you hash with will cause voting problems.
Provide some test codes, ideally in the same format as the real codes.
Don't forget to set your vote settings or voting settings correctly (e.g. max 1 vote).
itsme and eid in Flanders
Government in Flanders? Discover how you can use our itsme (mijn burgerprofiel) integration.
Need help or support? Don't hesitate to contact us at support@bpart.be !
Updated on: 11/09/2024
Thank you!