Election-style vs awards-style voting: which is right for your event?

Election-style vs awards-style voting: which is right for your event?

When you create a new event on voteMe.live, you choose between three vote types: paid (awards-style), election-style (unpaid), and free (hot). For most serious events, the choice comes down to the first two. Here is a clear comparison.

Paid voting (awards-style)

Best for: Beauty pageants, music awards, talent competitions, church choir competitions, best-of-industry awards, reality show-style competitions.

In paid voting, anyone can vote as many times as they can pay for. Votes cost a fixed amount per unit — set by you. Paystack handles the payment. The platform takes 10% of gross voting revenue and your 90% lands directly in your Paystack subaccount.

This model rewards genuine fan passion. The most mobilised fan base usually wins, which creates community excitement and social sharing. Contestants have an incentive to campaign actively because more votes mean more support is visible in real time on the leaderboard.

Every contestant gets a unique 4-letter short code for USSD voting, which means even fans without data access can participate.

There is no voter registration. Anyone can vote, anytime, from anywhere.

Election-style voting (unpaid)

Best for: Staff recognition awards, student union elections, community association votes, board elections, school competitions, scholarship selection.

In election voting, only registered and approved voters participate. Each approved voter gets exactly one vote per contestant. The vote is free.

You control the voter list entirely. You approve who gets in. For a staff recognition award, that might be all employees. For a student union election, it is the registered student body.

The voter access code system means even if someone shares their email address, the recipient cannot vote without the 6-digit access code. Higher security levels add phone or voter ID verification.

Free registration is limited to 25 approved voters per event at no cost. If you need more, you purchase additional voter capacity: 100 voters for GHS 25, 250 for GHS 50, 1,000 for GHS 100, 5,000 for GHS 200, or unlimited for GHS 500.

Paid voter registration removes the limit entirely — voters pay to register and the platform takes 5%.

The quick decision guide

• Revenue from voting matters → Paid voting
• You need to control exactly who votes → Election voting
• Your audience is the general public → Paid voting
• Your audience is a defined, verifiable group → Election voting
• You want USSD support → Paid voting only
• Fairness means one-person-one-vote → Election voting
• Fairness means most-supported-wins → Paid voting

Can I run both?

Not on the same event simultaneously — an event is either paid, election, or free. However, you can run a nominations stage (collecting the public's input) and then a separate paid voting stage for the finalists. That hybrid approach is common for awards events that want community participation in both the selection and the final vote.