Method
How a vote becomes public
Local proof of concept for one area group. Not sanctioned by the Fire Brigades Union nationally. Not an official FBU ballot. Favourite fruit and colour until the area trusts the count. Results are a demo, not union policy.
- 01
The area holds the roll
Officials keep membership number, name, brigade/area, watch, duty, and optional email. Nobody votes until they are on that list. Opening a poll freezes a snapshot of the roll for turnout. Next phase: number + last name + email OTP.
- 02
A trial check, not identity
The member sends number and last name. Spaces and hyphens are ignored. Repeated failures lock the number and flag officials. This is not proof of identity.
- 03
One membership, one vote
After a match, that Telegram or web session is bound. Votes are counted per membership number, not per Telegram account. Names never appear with totals.
- 04
FBU Voice posts the poll
Officials write a balanced brief, then open. An AI digest restates both sides in equal weight — it does not tell you how to vote. The bot posts buttons after /bind. Unverified taps are rejected.
- 05
Named cases, full names
Members can publish a case on the poll page. Full first name and last name are required and shown. No anonymous posts. Officials can hide abuse, not silently edit substance.
- 06
Results publish themselves
Charts, turnout, rejected attempts and a public audit list (no personal data) appear on crewvoice.uk as votes land.
What this does not do
- It does not run a statutory ballot under the Trade Union Act 2016.
- It does not publish names with how any individual voted.
- It does not let the committee quietly drop a result they dislike.