AI in running elections: polling staff, instructions and voters’ questions, never the count
Short answer
Running an election is a logistics operation: polling stations, recruiting and briefing hundreds of polling staff, poll cards, proxies, voters’ questions and afterwards the count. AI can answer procedural questions from electoral law and the electoral authority’s instructions, support recruitment and rotas and prepare communications. Casting, counting and declaring the result stay manual and on paper, as Dutch electoral law prescribes and as most European democracies choose.
The operation
For the Dutch municipal elections of March 2026 a mid-sized municipality quickly ran fifty polling stations with four to six staff each, plus reserves, counters for the central count and the municipal electoral committee that has been mandatory since 2023. Every member has to be trained, every location accessible, every voter sent a poll card in time. Around that: voters’ questions about proxies, voter passes and voting from abroad, and the accounting afterwards.
Where AI helps
| Task | What AI does | What electoral services do |
|---|---|---|
| Recruitment | Recruitment texts, reminders and rotas based on availability | Select and appoint |
| Briefing | Practice questions from the electoral authority’s instructions; a reference assistant on the day | Deliver the training and decide in doubt |
| Voters’ questions | Answers from electoral law and the authority’s information, with sources | Handle exceptions |
| Communications | Letters, website and messages in plain language and several languages | Check for accuracy |
| Accounting | Gathers returns and reports into an overview | The electoral committee adopts the official record |
See AI in citizen contact for the conditions on an assistant for residents.
What stays AI-free
- Voting and counting. The Netherlands votes on paper and counts by hand, precisely because the process must be verifiable by anyone. AI changes nothing there, nor should it.
- The electoral register. Who may vote follows from the population register. No model comes between. See AI in civil registration.
- Influence. The AI Act classes AI intended to influence voters as high-risk. A local authority informs, and informs neutrally. An assistant answering questions about parties or positions is out.
- A wrong answer to a voter. A wrong closing time or an invented rule on proxies has immediate consequences. Every answer with a source, and doubtful cases to a member of staff. See AI hallucinations.
How werqly fits in
Polling staff are residents with names, addresses and availability; communication with voters contains personal data. With werqly the whole runs on a dedicated node, with electoral law, the electoral authority’s instructions and the authority’s own information as sources. The audit log shows which answer rests on which source, which helps if the result is challenged. See AI for local government.
Frequently asked questions
Questions on this topic
May AI play a role in counting votes?
No. Dutch electoral law prescribes manual counting in a public session with an official record, precisely so that anyone can check it. AI helps with the organisation around it, not with the voting process.
Can an assistant answer voters’ questions?
Yes, about procedure: poll cards, proxies, locations, opening hours, identification. Every answer with a source reference and a route to a member of staff. Never about parties, candidates or positions.
What is the municipal electoral committee?
Since 2023 every Dutch municipality sets up a municipal electoral committee per election that checks the returns and transparently corrects errors before the result is declared. AI can bundle the returns and reports; the committee decides.
Is a polling-station assistant high-risk under the AI Act?
A reference assistant for procedures is not. AI intended to influence the outcome of an election or voting behaviour is listed in Annex III as high-risk, and has no place in a local authority anyway.
Sources
This article is general information, not legal advice. Rules and guidance change; check the sources listed or ask your lawyer or DPO if in doubt.