Residents of Moss had their say on the future of their city’s transport from wherever they were: on a phone, tablet or computer, at any hour, over ten days. Nearly half of eligible residents participated.
The Moss kommune made online voting the main channel for its advisory referendum, while keeping paper ballots available for anyone who wanted them. The question, put to voters in September 2026, was whether the city should keep planning a set of road, public transport and cycling projects, financed partly by road tolls.
Flexibility That Protects Election Integrity
Moss needed an online channel that fit its existing election processes rather than replace them. TIVI, deployed with local partner New Voting Technology AS, was configured around a few key requirements, each designed to widen access while keeping every ballot free, private and counted once.
- Online and paper voting in parallel. Residents could vote online from any device or cast a paper ballot in person. Online voting was optional, and residents who preferred not to vote digitally could still participate using a paper ballot.
- Authentication through existing national eID. Voters signed in through Norway’s national login service, using the same digital IDs they already use for banking and public services. No new credentials had to be issued or distributed.
- Revoting and paper precedence to protect voters from coercion. Voters could change their choice at any time before polls closed, online or on paper, with only the final ballot counted. This allows voters to reconsider their choice freely and helps ensure that no one is locked into a vote cast under someone else’s influence. During the referendum, 571 online ballots were replaced by a later online vote, and 3 were superseded by a paper ballot.
- Privacy and transparency built in. Ballots were anonymized through a mixnet before tallying, the platform ran on AWS cloud infrastructure, voters received SMS notifications at opening and before close, and election officials got daily turnout reports.
Participation at a Glance
- 43,708 eligible residents
- 21,530 votes counted
- 49.3% turnout
- 10 days of online voting (September 14 to 23)
- 2 languages available for voting: Norwegian and English
Beyond This Election
- Citizens empowered between elections. Online voting fosters participation by making it practical for councils to consult residents directly on major projects before committing public funds.
- Participation that fits everyday life. A multi-day window on personal devices removes the need to travel to a polling place or plan around its hours.
- A digital channel that leaves no one out. Keeping paper as an option means digital access is never a condition for having a say.
See how TIVI helps authorities bring citizens closer to local decisions