Polyas

POLYAS is a German software company that develops systems for electronic voting and online voting. The company is based in Kassel, Germany. Its software is used for elections by universities, associations, cooperatives, and organizations.

History
The POLYAS voting software was first created in 1996 by Wolfgang Jung and Kai Reinhard. The first election using the system took place in Finland in 1996 and included about 30,000 voters.

Until 2012, POLYAS was part of the German IT company Micromata GmbH. In 2012, it became an independent company called POLYAS GmbH.

In 2016, the POLYAS system received certification from the German Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) for use in non-political elections.

In 2025, the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) used POLYAS for a membership vote on a coalition agreement.

How it works
POLYAS lets organizers upload a list of voters and send access data by email or post. The system supports login methods such as LDAP and Single Sign-On.

It uses two separate servers to protect ballot secrecy: one checks voter eligibility and the other stores votes. Newer versions allow voters to verify that their vote was recorded.

References

Category:Companies of Germany
Category:Software companies
Category:2012 establishments