Stuffing the Ballot Box

The best way to prevent ballot box stuffing is to require users to login before they vote using the “Require login” option on surveys. Otherwise, if you are a logged in staff member and have access to Downloading Survey Submissions, you can use the submitted_at, ip_address, and session_key columns in the downloadable report to look for telltale signs of ballot box stuffing.

• Lots of votes for a single option in a short time frame with regular intervals.
• Lots of votes for a single option from a single IP address. Keep in mind that many computers often have a single IP address, such as all the computers in an office building. IP addresses are only a clue that point towards ballot stuffing, not necessarily proof.
• Votes with blank session keys. When you clear your cookies, you clear your session and circumvent crowdsourcing’s necessarily insecure first line of defense againt ballot stuffing: cookies.