Democracy Counts

What Democracy Counts does

Democracy Counts is a UK-based, founder-led software and services company that supplies electoral management technology to local authorities, public bodies, and a smaller tail of private and community organisations. Founded in 2009 by Simon Verdon in Warrington, the company has grown to support 80+ UK council customers and 72 million-plus electors, with a team of 11-50 employees and a recently expanded board including two non-executive directors appointed in 2024.

Its core platform is Elector8, an in-house Electoral Management System built on a modern Microsoft stack (C#, .NET, SQL, WinForms, WPF) and hosted on Azure through the company's own Gov Cloud infrastructure. Around Elector8 sits a suite of modules: Authentic8 (polling station management with QR-code voter ID verification), Particip8 (tablet door-to-door canvassing), Educ8 (online training for poll staff), ElectorScan (postal vote scanning and signature recognition), ElectorCountResults (count and results display), ElectorReg (online registration), Citizen Portal (self-service portal linking directly to the Electoral Register Database), ElectorPrint (ballot pack print and mail), and eValu8 (property valuation and ratings for Scottish assessors). A next-generation cloud-native product, CloudEMS, is in development for 2026.

The business operates a multi-channel go-to-market combining enterprise field sales, inside sales, and the G-Cloud government procurement framework, supported by LinkedIn, blog, and email marketing. Revenue is generated through SaaS and on-premise software licensing (subscription, annual billing), managed election services (returning officer, ballot management, count), a postal vote managed service, and a print and mailing operation. Pricing is bespoke, quoted per council based on elector count, modules, and deployment type. The company holds ISO 27001, ISO 9001, ISO 14001, and Cyber Essentials Plus certifications, is a G-Cloud approved supplier, and reported a 97% customer satisfaction score in 2024.

Name

Democracy Counts

Legal name

Democracy Counts Ltd

Website

https://democracycounts.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Democracy Counts provides electoral management software and managed election services to 80+ UK local authorities, supporting 72 million-plus electors via its Elector8 platform, its Gov Cloud infrastructure, and a suite of in-house modules spanning polling, canvassing, training, and postal voting.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Electoral Management Software

NAICS

Legislative Bodies (921120), Public Finance Activities (921130), Other General Government Support (92119)

SIC

Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370), Services-Direct Mail Advertising Services (7331)

akta.pro primary industry

City Clerk/Records, Elections & Civic Engagement (BPAIACAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Electoral Support & Election Observation (BPADAGAA), Government & Public Service Mail (Official Communications, Elections) (TLAAAAAN), Democracy, Voting Rights & Civic Participation Advocacy (BPAGAFAJ)

Keywords

• Electoral management software
• Election management systems
• Voter registration platforms
• Property valuation software
• Government cloud platforms

Headquarters

HQ city

Warrington

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Infrastructure, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Electoral Management Software Licensing: SaaS and on-premise licensing of Elector8 EMS platform with modules for registration, election management, polling, postal votes, and results.
2. Managed Election Services: End-to-end election management including Returning Officer services, ballot management, vote counting, and referendum administration.
3. Print and Mailing Services: Ballot pack design, print, and dispatch including postal voting materials. ElectorPrint service for election stationery.
4. Online Voting Platform: ElectorCount Online/Lite for secure online voting, consultations, and referendums with PIN-based authentication.
5. Postal Vote Managed Service: Scanning bureau service where Democracy Counts provides equipment, staffing, and ElectorScan software at client premises for postal vote opening sessions.
6. Property Valuation Software: eValu8 system licensing for valuation and ratings management supporting Scottish local government assessors.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Democracy Counts develops and licenses the Elector8 electoral management system (EMS) and an associated suite of modules (Authentic8, Particip8, Educ8, ElectorScan, ElectorCountResults, Citizen Portal, ElectorReg) to UK local authorities, complemented by managed election services, ballot print and mailing (ElectorPrint), and the eValu8 property valuation system. All offerings run on the proprietary Gov Cloud platform hosted on Microsoft Azure and are sold primarily via subscription/SaaS licensing with bespoke enterprise pricing.

Product overview

Democracy Counts offers a comprehensive platform-plus-modules product architecture under the ElectorCentre and Gov Cloud umbrellas. The core platform is Elector8, a full electoral registration and election management system (EMS) augmented by specialist add-on modules: Authentic8 for polling station management, Particip8 for door-to-door canvassing, Educ8 for staff training, ElectorScan for postal vote verification, ElectorCountResults for election results display, ElectorCount Lite for online consultation/voting, ElectorReg for online registration, and Citizen Portal as the citizen-facing front-end linking directly to the Electoral Register Database. The entire suite runs on the Gov Cloud infrastructure platform, which also hosts eValu8 for property valuation and ratings management. All software is developed in-house using Microsoft technology and is offered both on-premise and as a hosted SaaS solution.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Elector8: Comprehensive electoral registration and elections management system (EMS) - the company's primary election management software platform.
• Citizen Portal
• Particip8
• Authentic8
• Educ8
• ElectorCountResults
• ElectorScan
• ElectorCountOnline / ElectorCount Lite
• ElectorReg
• ElectorPrint
• Gov Cloud
• CloudEMS
• eValu8

Products and services

• Elector8 Electoral Management System Comprehensive electoral registration and elections management system (EMS) providing automation, two-way integrations with government systems (Gov.Notify, IERDS, ERO Portal), self-service portals for staff, candidates, polling stations, and citizens, available as a fully-hosted cloud service or on-premise. Built for UK local authorities and electoral administrators.
• Citizen Portal Citizen-facing portal providing online electoral registration, absent vote applications, and digital citizen services. The first and only EMS supplier linking directly to the Electoral Register Database, enabling integration with council services.
• Authentic8 Polling Station Management Polling day and polling station management solution, voter ID ready since 2014, supporting digital register marking via QR code scans on laptops/tablets, postal vote recording, real-time Returning Officer dashboards, and automated ballot paper account generation.
• Particip8 Door-to-Door Canvassing

Quantifiable outcome

• 72 million+ electors supported across 80+ UK councils
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration15 records

Feature8 records

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Idox: UK public-sector software group whose Halarose/Idox Electoral Services suite is the most entrenched UK EMS incumbent. Multiple Democracy Counts staff (Manni, Paul, ZhenZhen) previously worked at Idox/Halarose, evidencing direct competition for the same council customers.

Broad incumbents

• Civica: Large UK public-sector software provider offering electoral management as part of a broader local-government portfolio (CX, revenues & benefits, regulatory services). Competes with Democracy Counts in UK council procurement but at much greater scale across a wider solution footprint.
• Capita: Major UK outsourcer and public-sector IT services firm, historically involved in election services and local government digital transformation. Competes with Democracy Counts on managed election services and large public-sector IT contracts.
• Sopra Steria: European IT services group with significant UK central and local government contracts. Adjacent competitor for public-sector digital transformation and election support services, though electoral software is not its primary focus.
• Smartmatic: Global election technology provider offering voting machines, e-poll books, and election management systems. Comparable in election management software category though primarily operating in the Americas, UK, and Philippines.
• Hart InterCivic: US election technology company providing end-to-end voting and election management solutions. Comparable in offering a full suite spanning voter registration through results, though primarily focused on US jurisdictions.

Emerging players

• Scytl: Barcelona-based election technology vendor specialising in secure online voting and election modernisation. Comparable to Democracy Counts on the online voting/consultation side (ElectorCount Lite) and on international election technology scope.
• ClearBallot: US-based election technology vendor focused on modern, auditable voting and election management systems. Comparable to Democracy Counts in emphasising modern, transparent election technology for local-government administrators.
• Simply Voting: Online voting and election management provider serving organisations, associations, and governments. Comparable to Democracy Counts' ElectorCount Lite/Online online voting and referendum platform for non-government and government clients.

Regional players

• Tenex Software Solutions: US-based provider of election management software (EMS) to counties and states. Functionally similar to Elector8 as a comprehensive election management platform, serving a comparable local-government electoral administrator customer base in North America.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/demcounts
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/democracy-counts-limited

Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Democracy Counts