Fair voting
Five levels of protection, from a quick name check to single-use codes. Add a captcha, VPN blocking and hidden results for a vote that holds up.
Protection levels
More protection makes cheating harder and asks a little more of your voters. These are real polls, recorded as voters see them.
A voter opens a private window on the same network and is refused.
New polls start here, with VPN blocking on.
| If someone tries | Respondent name | Browser session | IP address | Email address | Unique code |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Voting again in the same browser | Not stopped | Stopped | Stopped | Stopped | Stopped |
| Opening a private window | Not stopped | Not stopped | Stopped | Stopped | Stopped |
| Using a second device on the same network | Not stopped | Not stopped | Stopped | Stopped | Stopped |
| Switching to mobile data | Not stopped | Not stopped | Not stopped | Stopped | Stopped |
| Making up new identities | Not stopped | Not stopped | Not stopped | Stopped | Stopped |
| Voting without being invited | Not stopped | Not stopped | Not stopped | Not stopped | Stopped |
Set the level before you share the link. Votes that are already in can’t be checked again when you change it later. How to choose
Extra security
Voters click once while their browser quietly solves a small proof of work, a second or two on a phone. For a script that wants thousands of votes, that adds up fast.
Changing your address is the easiest way around an IP check. StrawPoll turns away votes from known VPNs, proxies, Tor and datacenters, on lists that update several times a day.
When nobody can watch the race, nobody rallies friends to swing it, and early votes don’t sway later ones. Choose exactly who gets access to results, and when.
Disposable inboxes are rejected, and ann+2@ counts as ann@. On Gmail, dots don’t make a new address either.
Votes sent at the same moment are checked one after another, so parallel requests can’t slip past a limit.
Email codes expire after 15 minutes and stop working after 5 wrong tries. Voting codes work once.
Ask for a password before anyone can see the poll or its results.
Give everyone the same voting window. Votes only count while the poll is open.
Close the poll after a set number of responses, or cap how many can pick each option.
Decide whether a response can be changed later, or make every vote final once it’s sent.
Shuffle the options so nobody benefits from being listed first.
Running a daily vote? Allow one vote per hour, per day, per week, per month.
Four starting points that balance protection and effort.
The captcha is open source and self-hosted. No data goes to a captcha company.
Addresses are compared with lists on our own servers and never sent elsewhere.
Unique codes aren’t tied to names, so a vote can be checked and still stay secret.
Details are in the privacy policy. Spotted something odd in a running poll? Here’s how to deal with suspicious votes.
Good to know
Which protection fits which vote, how to combine them for a big public poll, what to do when something looks off, and how to stay fair to voters’ privacy too.
2 min read
Set it before you share the link. Votes already in can’t be checked again under a new setting.
When people can watch a close race, they recruit friends, other servers or bots. Set Access to results to After the form closes, and set a clear close date under Open & close dates, so everyone gets the same window and nobody sees the leader until it’s over.
Protection shouldn’t cost privacy. Unique codes aren’t tied to names, so a ballot can be checked and still stay secret. Browser and IP checks don’t ask for names either. Throwaway inboxes aren’t accepted for email verification, and responses are stored on servers and databases in Germany.
FAQ
The short answers. The guides below go into more detail.
Running a big public poll? See how to stop bots, VPNs and ballot stuffing.
Help center
Step-by-step guides for setting up a fair vote and keeping it fair.