The International World Games Association has received a lot of positive feedback after its remote Annual General Meeting (AGM) in May 2021. The IWGA received special recognition for its own online voting platform.
The platform was developed as a customised system in cooperation with the partner company JayKay-Design in Spain. Since the IWGA AGM, two IWGA member federations have already expressed interest in using the platform for their own Annual General Meetings.
The system - developed on behalf of the IWGA by John Caprez and IWGA-branded by Kathy Lang from JayKay-Design - combines ease of use with a high level of security. The results in voting are displayed clearly and transparently. This requirement goes without saying, with the different majority ratios required. The programme not only showed the distribution of votes, it also made it immediately visible whether a motion had been adopted or not.
At the same time it is not possible to have a vote assigned to a single person - the secrecy of the ballot is maintained at all times. In order to rule out all legal contingencies, the IWGA had engaged a lawyer for the AGM. Maitre Jean-Pierre Morand approved and recorded each voting result before it was made public.
During the IWGA AGM, delegates could first use the IWGA platform to respond to the Roll Call. Votes on the budget and the discharge of the Board, requiring a simple majority, were on the agenda. Another important item was the (successful) application of Wushu and Sambo for membership in the IWGA. Also this decision - this time with two-thirds majorities - could be taken via the system by the push of a button. Voting on individual applications or bulk voting were possible. Delegates from the 37 IWGA member federations used Internet-enabled mobile devices as computers to cast their votes.
After the successful première in May, the IWGA Board is considering using its own voting platform at the next AGM in 2022. This is even if The World Games family can in fact meet in person, as is assumed and hoped. The advantages of the new system are too convincing not to carry on with this new feature in the future.
The World Games is a multi-sport event staged every four years by the International World Games Association under the patronage of the International Olympic Committee. The 11th edition of The World Games will be held in Birmingham, Alabama, USA, 7-17 July 2022. 3,600 athletes from over 30 sports and 100 countries will take part in The World Games.
