Help

There are no passwords. Type your email, press Send code and you will receive a 6-digit code, which you type next and confirm with Sign in.

The code is valid for 10 minutes and allows 5 attempts. Asking for a new code cancels the previous ones. Only people with active access receive a code; for security, the on-screen message is always the same.

Between two code requests you must wait one minute (the button shows a countdown). If you receive a code you did not request, do not share it and tell the Electoral Commission. The first time you sign in, the platform asks you to confirm that you understand every action on the platform is recorded and may be used for disciplinary purposes; you cannot continue without confirming.

First check your spam folder and make sure you typed the email you were given access with. If it still does not arrive, ask the President of the Electoral Commission (or their delegate, if you are a polling station member) to generate a code for you: it appears on their screen and they can give it to you by phone. That code is valid for 10 minutes, works only once, and it is recorded who generated it.

The dashboard brings together what you need when you sign in. At the top, a few current figures (active elections, voting now, lists to decide, open complaints). Then, under What needs doing, the assistant lists what is missing in each election, by urgency: red is urgent, orange needs attention and blue is information only. Each line has a button that takes you straight to the right place.

Next to it is the agenda for the next 14 days and, below, a card per election with its current phase, a progress bar and how long until the next step. Polling station members first see Your polling station.

The assistant uses simple rules on the platform data (nothing is sent outside): for example, it warns when a ballot box should have opened and has not, when a polling station has recorded no votes for over an hour, when a member has never signed in or when a body has no lists.

At the top of every page there is the PT/EN button to change language, the sun/moon button to switch between light and dark mode (remembered on this device; by default it follows your system) and Sign out. The session ends by itself after 2 hours of inactivity.

1. In Open an election, choose the structure and press Continue.
2. Bodies: by default all bodies in the group are elected. Tick "Extraordinary election" if only some are.
3. Calendar: the start and end of candidacies and the voting day and hours are required. Candidacies open at 00:00 on the first day and close at 17:00 on the last. Candidacies and the campaign may already be in the past (for example, an election that reaches the platform halfway through); voting and early voting must be in the future. Early voting, if any, must end before general voting. For bodies elected by absolute majority, the 2nd round must be scheduled now (it only happens if needed).
4. Electoral Commission: the email shown on the website and, for student groups and sections, the President's delegate (optional), who receives access by email.
5. Ballot boxes: the general voting box and, if any, the early voting box. For intermediate councils "Voting without polling stations" comes ticked.
6. Electoral rolls: upload the section members' CSV. The full members' roll is not uploaded here: the election stays unpublished until it is uploaded.

When you press Open the election, the library documents that apply (regulations, forms…) are added to the election automatically. The election only appears on the public website once all rolls are uploaded.

To choose the structure, type part of its name or acronym. All dates must be in the future. Ballot boxes: you start with one general voting ballot box and Add ballot box adds more (general or, with early voting, early voting). Each ballot box has a number and a name, and the name includes the place (for example Sala dos Melos 1, Sala dos Melos 2, Sala do NED/AAC). Turning "no polling stations" on and off does not delete what you filled in. If there are errors elsewhere in the form, the roll file you uploaded is kept and you do not need to choose it again.

At the top, the phase bar (candidacies, campaign, voting, counting) shows where the election is. Then the main figures and, side by side, what needs doing and the status: before voting, readiness (rolls, candidacies, documents, polling station members, observers); during voting, turnout with a forecast to closing time compared with the previous election, and the voters-per-hour chart.

Below are the tabs Results, Rolls, Ballot boxes, Documents, Calendar and Website status.

The History tab lists every action taken in the election (who, when and what), newest first, with a filter by type. The candidacy, complaint and access pages of each election show the election name at the top and the tabs General info, Candidacies, Complaints and Polling stations and access, so you can move between them without going back to the start.

In the Calendar tab, the dates that can still be changed appear as fields. Change them, write the reason and press Save the calendar. Only stages that have not started can be changed (candidacies and campaign while they have not ended). If you change the voting, that round's ballot boxes not yet opened move to the new times. Every change is recorded.

Only dates that have not passed yet can be changed (voting can no longer be changed once it starts), and new dates must be in the future.

On the election page, Calendar tab, under "Candidacy deadline", choose the new deadline, write the justification and press Extend the deadline. If the secretariat asked for an extension, the request shows there (and in the assistant) and you can authorise it or reject it with a reason. The new deadline must end before the next stage in the calendar. The extension is kept in the history, the audit log and the election minutes, the public site says the deadline was extended and the secretariat is notified by email.

A roll is a CSV file with one voter per line, separated by semicolons: number;name;faculty;course;sex. If Excel saves it with commas, the system explains how to fix it. Repeated numbers are ignored.

On the election page you can replace the whole roll or Add or remove a person, always with a justification; the history is kept under "Changes to the rolls". Each change is emailed to the Electoral Commission and the secretariat, with the delegates, observers and list representatives in copy, and is recorded in the ballot box minutes. Rolls cannot be changed during voting, nor replaced once votes exist, and people who have already voted cannot be removed.

Under Ballot boxes you can edit, delete or add boxes while they are "Not opened" and no forms have been started. Each round needs at least one general voting box.

Under Documents on the website you add PDFs or (https) links shown on the election's public page.

The website status changes by itself with the calendar and the ballot boxes. Only in exceptional cases use Set another status (voting suspended, challenged, no candidates), always with a justification; choose "Automatic" to go back to normal.

Each ballot box has its own card. You can change or delete it while it is "Not opened" and the polling station has not submitted the opening form; otherwise the card says why. When adding or changing a ballot box, Copy from another ballot box fills in the day and times of another one. The ballot box name includes the place (for example Sala dos Melos 1) and the public website shows it as "Ballot box 1 – Sala dos Melos 1". If there is an error, the form stays open with what you wrote. Documents are uploaded as PDF files only.

When the secretariat submits a candidacy with someone not on the roll, the candidacy is "Waiting for the roll" and the assistant warns you. On the candidacy page, under People not on the roll, you see each person's full name, number and origin: Add to the roll adds them to the roll (recorded) or reject the request with a reason. If the person holds a mandatory position (or is the list representative), rejecting the request also rejects the candidacy; if they only hold optional positions, they are removed from the list and the candidacy continues. Either way the list representative is notified by email, and the platform tells you beforehand what will happen. When no requests are left, the candidacy becomes "Awaiting approval".

While these requests are pending, the candidacy status is "People outside the roll pending decision". If a candidacy is refused, whoever submitted it is also notified and the secretariat can correct and resubmit it with a new PDF.

Candidacies are submitted by the secretariat. Open the list under Candidacies, check the candidates (including incompatibilities) and, under "President's decision", choose Approve, one of the two refusals or Record withdrawal. Rejection and withdrawal require a justification. The list representative is notified by email.

On the public website, a body's lists only appear after the deadline and once all lists for that body have been decided.

A definitive refusal closes the candidacy: it can no longer be changed. With a refusal open to editing, the secretariat can correct it and resubmit it (with a new PDF) until voting starts; it then becomes "Pending approval" again and the candidacy page keeps the previous versions and the history.

In Polling stations and access you give access to each polling station's member, to the President's delegate and to the observers (one from the Fiscal Council and one from the Disciplinary Council). A name and email are enough: the person receives an email and signs in with a code. Remove takes access away immediately.

Polling station members: choose each member's role, Polling station member – List A (one option per approved list) or Polling station member – Civil requisition; while there are no approved lists, only civil requisition is available. Delegates only see and manage the polling station members of the ballot boxes you choose in Ballot boxes they manage. Observers: one from the Audit Board and one from the Disciplinary Board; giving access to another person for the same body replaces the previous observer, who is notified. When the election is published, each board receives an email asking it to designate its observer through you; you then add each one here, with their name and email.

When the polling station member submits the opening, you receive an "Authorise opening" email. On the ballot box page check the data (members present, seals, ballot papers) and press Authorise opening. The member is notified and the box only opens from the scheduled time.

On the same page you can Suspend voting at this ballot box (and reopen it later), always with a justification, and Add a note, which the polling station member also sees.

The Authorise opening button is at the end, after the opening data. Before it, the page lists what is still missing: in red, what prevents the opening (rolls not uploaded or empty, no approved list, candidacies pending, election not published), in which case you cannot authorise; in orange, what should be dealt with but does not block (observers, documents).

After counting, the box is "Counted, awaiting approval" and you receive the results by email (a reminder follows if it takes more than 2 hours). On the ballot box page check the figures, add a note if you wish and press Approve the results.

The minutes are generated as a PDF and sent in a single email to you and to the secretariat (everyone with secretariat access and the archive email), with the delegates, the observers, the members who staffed the ballot box and the list representatives in copy. You can also download them at any time with Download the minutes (PDF).

Elections opened with "Voting without polling stations" have no opening, voter check-in or closing. From the voting time, the ballot box page shows Enter the results: type the number of voters and, per body, the votes for each list, blank and invalid votes. When you press Save and approve, the results are approved, the minutes are generated and the results are sent by email.

The system does not accept more voters than people on the roll, nor more votes than voters.

On the election page, results appear as ballot boxes are approved. For the Fiscal and Disciplinary Councils seats are allocated with Sainte-Laguë; while counting, the seats that still depend on uncounted votes are shown as "to be allocated".

If a body needs a 2nd round, once all 1st round boxes are approved choose the bodies and press Open the 2nd round. Ballot boxes are copied with the 2nd round times from the calendar; you then need to give access to the polling station members.

Complaints arrive through the public website (up to 48 hours after the last voting closes) and are emailed to the President and the Electoral Commission. Under Complaints choose the decision ("Under review", "Upheld" or "Dismissed"), write the reasoning and press Send reply. The complainant receives the reply and, for final decisions, the observers receive a copy.

In Polling stations and access, for each ballot box, use Give access to a member with the name and email (the member number is optional). Each box has a single active member; you can see since when they have access and when they last signed in.

A person can only be at one polling station at a time: the platform refuses another ballot box that runs at the same time (from opening until two hours after closing), even in another election. Someone who is Electoral Commission President, secretariat, delegate or observer cannot be a polling station member either, nor the other way round. Delegates and observers can be in several elections at the same time.

You also choose the member's role (the list they represent or civil requisition). You only see the ballot boxes the President assigned to you.

Press Replace member and enter the new person. The previous member loses access immediately and receives an email saying access was given to the new person; everything already saved is kept and the new person continues from there.

Press Generate code next to their name. The code appears on your screen: give it to the person (by phone, for example). It is valid for 10 minutes and only once, and it is recorded that you generated it.

The panel shows the stages in order: opening, open the ballot box, voting, closing and counting. Each stage only becomes available at the right time. Forms save a draft automatically: you can close the browser and continue later. Back deletes nothing. Submit is final, so check the data first.

Notes from the President or the delegate appear at the top of the panel.

Each step says when it becomes available. The observations of the President or delegate are at the end of the panel, newest first, with a notice at the top when there is a new one. If the President suspends the election, recording votes is stopped until it resumes.

1. Material received
2. Posting the information
3. Members present (at least 2; the first person is the one filling in)
4. Sealing the ballot box (seals and slot seal)
5. Counting the ballot papers
6. Confirmation

After submitting, the President is asked to authorise. Once authorised, at the scheduled time, break only the slot seal, put it inside the box, confirm and press Open the ballot box.

In step 3 the first person is you, with the role you were given; choosing a single-person role (such as the President of the Electoral Commission or an observer) fills in the name. Seal numbers may contain letters and cannot be repeated.

1. Ask the voter for their member number and a photo ID and press Search the electoral roll.
2. If they can vote, the bodies they vote for are shown. Confirm their identity, hand out the ballot papers for those bodies and press Record the vote.
3. If they have already voted (here or at another box in the same round), do not hand out ballot papers. If they are not on the roll, you can record an incident.

If you record someone by mistake, record an incident explaining what happened. After closing time only people already in the queue may vote.

In Extra ballot papers enter how many ballot papers arrived for each body and who delivered them. The record is final and counts in the closing totals.

In Record an incident choose the type (spoilt ballot paper, voter without ID, voter not on the roll, protest by a list representative, interruption, other) and describe what happened. For a spoilt ballot paper also choose the body, so the totals match at the end.

The body question only appears for a spoiled ballot paper. In the ballot box records, each incident shows the chosen "Type" and the written "Message".

Available from closing time.

1. Closing the door
2. Members present
3. Unused ballot papers (if they do not match the expected figure, you must explain)
4. Checking the seals
5. Destination of the box: count right there, or seal it and take it elsewhere
6. Confirmation

In the seal check, write the numbers in any order: the platform compares them with the opening ones.

Only starts once all ballot boxes in the round have closed.

1. Opening the box to count
2. Members present
3. Envelope votes
4. Ballot papers in the box
5. Results (per list, blank, invalid, votes for the President's review and spoiled ballot papers)
6. Final sealing
7. Confirmation

When submitted, the results go to the President, the observers and the list representatives. The box then waits for the President's approval.

The final seals cannot repeat numbers.

Under Candidacies you see the elections whose deadline is running (or ended less than 30 days ago). Choose the election and, for the right body, press New candidacy.

1. List: the letter (one capital letter, unique within the body) and the name.
2. List representative: member number (must be on the roll), email and phone.
3. Candidates: the member number for each position; those marked * are required. All must be on the body's roll and nobody can hold two positions or be on two lists.
4. Documents: the submitted PDFs (up to 15 MB each).

As you type each number, the person's name appears straight away if they are on the roll. If not, fields appear for the full name, the section (or course) and the section type (or faculty): once filled in, the candidacy is submitted but stays waiting for the roll until the President adds the person (or rejects the request; then replace the person and save again).

When you press Submit candidacy, the list representative and the Electoral Commission receive an email. While it is awaiting approval and within the deadline, you can still save changes or withdraw it.

The list representative's email and phone are mandatory; the representative must be one of the list's full candidates (positions with *) and cannot represent another list for the same body. If the candidacy is refused you get an email; if the refusal is open to editing, on the candidacy page you can correct it and resubmit it with the new PDF until voting starts (a definitive refusal cannot be corrected); the previous PDFs are kept under "Previous versions".

It only applies to lists for the Board of Directors. In each of three groups (full members, substitutes and the executive: President, Vice-Presidents, Administrator, Treasurer, Secretary and Chief of Staff), each sex must have at least 40% of the people. Below the candidates there is a summary that updates as you type. The sex comes from the electoral roll; when the roll does not have it, a field appears for you to give it. A list that does not comply cannot be submitted, and the President cannot approve it either.

After the deadline, the platform does not allow submitting or changing candidacies. On the election's candidacies page, under "The candidacy deadline has passed", explain why more time is needed and press Ask the President for an extension. The President of the Electoral Commission receives the request and decides; you get an email with the decision and, if authorised, the new deadline.

Observers can see everything about the election but record nothing: status, results, rolls (counts and changes), ballot boxes, candidacies with their PDFs, complaints and, under View all ballot box records, voters per hour, ballot paper totals and the full timeline (openings, decisions, replacements, extra ballot papers and incidents). You receive each ballot box's results and complaint decisions by email.

The ballot box records also show each delivery of ballot papers (the initial ones and each top-up, with who delivered them and when), and the timeline is newest first with a filter by type.

• New election published (with all rolls loaded): to the secretariat, with the candidacy deadline, and to the Audit Board and the Disciplinary Board, so they can designate their observer through the CE President.
• Access given or removed: to the person.
• Opening submitted: to the election's Presidents; opening authorised: to the polling station member.
• Ballot box suspended or reopened: to the observers, the polling station member and the list representatives.
• Ballot box results: to the Presidents, observers and list representatives.
• PDF minutes after approval: to the Presidents and the archive email.
• Box counted more than 2 hours ago without approval: reminder to the Presidents.
• Candidacy submitted or decided: to the list representative (and to the Electoral Commission on submission).
• Complaint received and answered: to the complainant, the Presidents and the Electoral Commission; final decisions also to the observers.

A complaint received sends a single email to the Electoral Commission (to the Presidents only if the election has no Commission email). Each complaint has a reference (for example R-4ZTPE6) that does not reveal how many complaints there are. A refused candidacy is also notified to whoever submitted it.

30 days after all ballot boxes are approved, the election's public data is frozen as it is and personal data no longer needed is deleted: rolls, polling station records, election access, complaints, candidacy PDFs and list representatives' contacts. The election, lists, candidates, results and minutes are kept. The election page warns before the date.