Terms of Service

These Terms of Service govern the use of AnchorBallot, an election technology platform, by the contracting organization, association, society, university, college, corporate board, union, or other authorized entity (the “Institution”) that AnchorBallot has agreed to serve.

These Terms apply to the Institution's authorized administrators, booth officers, and other staff accounts, and separately govern the limited voter-facing kiosk interface used by eligible voters during an election. They do not create any relationship between AnchorBallot and individual voters, candidates, or members beyond the operation of that kiosk interface during the election.

Where these Terms conflict with a separately signed written agreement between AnchorBallot and the Institution, the signed agreement governs.

AnchorBallot is subscription software for running in-person institutional elections: physical ID check-ins, one-time booth codes, kiosk voting, live turnout monitoring, and tamper-evident tallying and results.

AnchorBallot is a technology provider, not an election-running service. The Institution's own staff configure, administer, and run their election day using the platform. AnchorBallot does not attend, staff, or operate any election on the Institution's behalf, and does not act as an election authority, returning officer, or adjudicator of election disputes.

As described in our Privacy & Election Integrity Policy, all substantive election decisions, including the voter roll, candidates, positions, rules, and eligibility, are the Institution's, not AnchorBallot's.

AnchorBallot accounts are provisioned directly by our team for each new Institution, rather than through open self-service signup. The Institution's first administrator account is created at onboarding and is responsible for setting up further staff accounts (election administrators, booth officers, committee members) as needed.

The Institution is responsible for the accuracy of the roles it grants its own staff, and for promptly revoking access for anyone who leaves their role. AnchorBallot enforces multi-factor authentication on every administrative and staff account as a baseline security control; this cannot be disabled at the Institution's request.

Accounts are for the Institution's own authorized staff only. Sharing login credentials, or granting access to anyone outside the Institution's own election committee, is not permitted.

AnchorBallot is offered as paid subscription software. Pricing, billing frequency, and payment terms are agreed directly with each Institution as part of onboarding, and are set out in the applicable order or invoice rather than a fixed public price list.

Fees are due as invoiced. If a payment is not made by its due date, AnchorBallot may suspend access to the administrative interface after reasonable notice, though an election already in progress will not be interrupted mid-vote solely for a billing issue.

Except as otherwise agreed in writing, fees already paid are non-refundable once an election has been configured or opened, since the infrastructure and support for that election has already been provisioned.

The Institution is responsible for the accuracy and lawfulness of everything it uploads or configures: the voter roll, candidate information, positions, eligibility rules, and election timetable. AnchorBallot is not responsible for outcomes that follow directly from incorrect information the Institution supplied.

The Institution is responsible for the physical conduct of election day: staffing check-in desks, verifying physical ID, operating kiosks, and maintaining an appropriate venue and network for the election to run. AnchorBallot provides the software and infrastructure; the Institution runs the room.

The Institution agrees to use AnchorBallot only for elections it is authorized to conduct under its own governing rules, and not to use the platform to circumvent its own constitution, bylaws, or election code.

The Institution and its staff will not attempt to bypass the kiosk's isolation (no admin access, no navigation outside the ballot screen), attempt unauthorized access to another Institution's data, interfere with the platform's availability or security, or reverse-engineer, resell, or sublicense the platform without AnchorBallot's written consent.

AnchorBallot may suspend an account or access that it reasonably believes is being used to violate these Terms, to compromise the security or integrity of an election, or to attempt unauthorized access, and will notify the Institution's designated administrator promptly when it does.

AnchorBallot and its underlying software, design, and technology remain the property of AnchorBallot. Nothing in these Terms transfers ownership of the platform to the Institution; the Institution receives a right to use the service for its own elections, for the duration of its subscription.

Election data the Institution uploads or generates, such as its voter roll, candidate list, and results, remains the Institution's own data. AnchorBallot's rights and obligations regarding that data are set out in our Privacy & Election Integrity Policy.

AnchorBallot aims for high availability during any election an Institution has scheduled, and monitors the platform's health independently across authentication, voting, database, audit, and blockchain-anchoring subsystems.

If the venue's internet connection drops during voting, the kiosk and check-in desk continue operating from local session buffering; check-in records and ballot commitments are held locally and sync automatically once connectivity returns, so a temporary network interruption does not interrupt or lose a vote already in progress.

No software platform can guarantee uninterrupted availability under every possible failure condition. AnchorBallot's obligation is to maintain reasonable engineering and monitoring practices designed to keep the platform available and to recover quickly from any incident, not an unconditional guarantee against every failure mode.

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, AnchorBallot's total liability arising out of or relating to the use of the platform for a given election is limited to the fees actually paid by the Institution for that election.

AnchorBallot is not liable for indirect, incidental, or consequential damages, including reputational harm, lost time, or the outcome or acceptance of an election result, except to the extent such damages arise from AnchorBallot's own gross negligence, willful misconduct, or unauthorized alteration of election data.

This limitation does not apply where it would be unenforceable under applicable Indian law, and does not limit liability for fraud or for matters that cannot lawfully be limited by contract.

The Institution agrees to indemnify AnchorBallot against claims arising from the Institution's own election rules, eligibility decisions, candidate approvals, or governance disputes, since these remain the Institution's decisions, not AnchorBallot's.

AnchorBallot agrees to indemnify the Institution against claims arising directly from AnchorBallot's own breach of these Terms or unauthorized disclosure of election data, in accordance with the terms of the signed agreement between the parties.

Either party may terminate the relationship in accordance with the notice period set out in the signed agreement. AnchorBallot may suspend or terminate access immediately, without advance notice, where necessary to address a genuine security incident or a material violation of these Terms.

On termination, the Institution's data is handled according to our Privacy & Election Integrity Policy: a standard 30-day operational retention window applies, and the Institution may separately request export or accelerated deletion of its data through its account settings, subject to the safeguards described there.

AnchorBallot may update these Terms from time to time, most often to reflect new features, clarify existing language, or respond to a change in applicable law. Material changes will be communicated to the Institution's designated administrator before they take effect.

Continued use of the platform after a change takes effect constitutes acceptance of the updated Terms for any election configured after that date.

These Terms are governed by the laws of India. Any dispute arising under these Terms that cannot be resolved directly between the parties will be subject to the jurisdiction agreed in the Institution's signed agreement with AnchorBallot.