ExitPoll Automated System

With help from Softengi, Intecracy Lab developed an interactive system for the real-time gathering of information from different sources (mobile terminals, telephone calls, SMS, web, etc.) – Megapolis.SocialPoll.

Later on, Softengi was engaged by one of its clients to deliver an automated system that could offer functionality similar to that of the abovementioned system. Therefore, the Softengi team used this system as a basis for the new solution and customized it in accordance with the client’s requirements and needs.

The Customer Required This Solution to:

• Conduct exit polls by gathering information by means of mobile devices;
• Present the real-time exit poll results;
• Conduct a parallel vote tabulation;
• Track issues and violations committed during the elections;
• Visualize and analyze the information gathered.

Softengi Team Contribution

The main function of the ExitPoll automated system was the real-time gathering of information from voters immediately after they exited the polling stations. Therefore, it was to be simple to use and mobile.

The ExitPoll system worked with information objects (subjects of the surveys held) and their properties. The object properties could be manually added and modified without any quantitative restrictions. The system also allowed to form relationships between different objects, attach files of any type in the object description, as well as automatically select properties frequently used to describe objects of a certain type.

The solution consisted of two parts: the server side and the mobile applications (on both iOS and Android).

The server side had a rich functionality allowing users to create an exit poll campaign, set it up, state the questions, and choose the predefined answers and their types from a catalog of answers, thus making a questionnaire. As the system was meant to be used by pollers/interviewers, the development team made it possible to add users to the exit poll campaigns and grant them different roles and access on the server side.

It was agreed that the mobile apps would be developed for both iOS and Android. To save a lot of time and make these apps as similar as possible, the Softengi developers decided to use the Apache Cordova framework (formerly known as PhoneGap).

Both Mobile Clients Allowed Their Users to:

• Conduct surveys using the automatic forms with predefined multiple choice election-related questions and Yes/No questions;
• Oversee the geographic location of the conducted exit poll;
• Monitor the data gathering time;
• Make photo reports on the candidates’ information materials, booklets, billboards, etc.;
• Track violations committed at the polling stations and send photo reports to the server.

The system used the GIS interface, which presented the statistics on the map (e.g., a map of a city, a region, or a country), used time markers, supported different geodata formats, allowed the tracking of connections between the objects, and displayed the object descriptions.

The ExitPoll automated system had a powerful reporting function. It allowed:

• Searching and filtering for any type of object according to different attributes;
• Comparing the data provided by several performers;
• Presenting the reports in tabular or graphic form (simple chart, complex chart, diagram, table, histogram, pie chart, maps, etc.);
• Exporting reports to MS Excel;
• Printing and saving reports in different formats.

Conclusion

The ExitPoll system was successfully used by the customer’s coordination centers during the Presidential and Parliamentary elections.