Keeping voting on the show grounds
A ballot link travels by text message further than your show does. The location check decides what happens when someone opens it: nothing, a polite ask, or a hard line with a staff member as the way in.
Updated September 3, 2026
People’s Choice means the people who chose to be there. The trouble is that the ballot is a link, and a link can be texted to a cousin two states away. The location check is how you decide what happens when that cousin opens it. It is a fence, not a wall: it stops the casual forward, not a determined cheat, and it never keeps out someone standing in front of your registration table.
The three settings
Settings, then Voting, then Where votes come from. One choice, three answers, each explained on the page.
| Setting | What a voter sees | Who gets in |
|---|---|---|
| Off | Nothing. The ballot opens. | Anyone with the link or the QR code, from anywhere. |
| Ask for location | A short step explaining why the phone will ask, then the phone’s own prompt. | A phone near the venue. A phone that declines or cannot get a fix, counted as unverified. A phone far away is refused. |
| Require location | The same step, then a code for staff if the phone cannot prove it. | A phone within the distance you picked, or anyone a staff member lets in. |
Ask for location is the default for new shows, and the right answer for most of them. Require location is for a show where a clean count matters more than the occasional walk to the table.
What the voter sees
Tapping Start voting does not fire the phone’s location dialog cold. First a panel says, in plain words, that this show only takes votes from the grounds, that the phone will ask to share its location once, and that the position is checked against the venue and thrown away. Then a Share my location button asks the phone. Most people tap Allow because they were told why.
If the first attempt fails, the page tries again with a longer, less precise attempt, which is what an old phone under a metal roof needs. If the phone has location blocked for the site, the page shows the exact settings to change on an iPhone or an Android phone, and the way forward under each setting.
Under Ask for location
A phone that shares a position far from the venue is refused, with a message saying voting is only open on site. A phone that declines the prompt, or cannot get a fix, is let through and counted as unverified. That count is on your dashboard, so you can see how many people voted without proving where they were.
The distance under Ask is wide on purpose, about five miles, so the overflow lot and the diner across the highway are inside it and a texted link in the next town is not.
Under Require location
You pick how close a phone has to be: within a couple of blocks, half a mile, a mile, or five miles. Measure it from where your venue is pinned, and be generous if the field is large. A phone that shares a position inside the distance is in. Anything else sees the staff pass.
The staff pass
A refused phone shows a QR code with the words “At the show? A staff member can let you in.” Anyone on your staff, signed in on their own phone, points their camera at it. The page that opens says “Let this person vote?” with the show’s name and one button. They tap Yes. Within a few seconds the voter’s phone notices, opens the ballot, and they are done.
A pass is good for one voter and lasts two hours, and it opens only the show it was made for. The staff member is vouching for the person in front of them, which is exactly the judgment a location check cannot make and a human at the table can. Every approval is written to the change log.
What the counts tell you
The dashboard and the Results page show three numbers for the day: refused, unverified, and let in by staff. If refused climbs while real voters complain, the venue pin is probably off or the distance is too tight; switch to Ask for the day and fix the pin afterwards. If unverified is most of your voters, the prompt is being declined, which is normal at a show where nobody was told to expect it. A line on the flyer helps.
What the check does not do
- It never refuses anyone by network address. Carrier traffic resolves to hubs in other states, and a check built on that turned away a third of a real crowd once. Only a shared location can refuse.
- It cannot stop a determined spoofer with a fake location app. It stops the ballot link that got texted out of town.
- It stays silent when the venue is not pinned, whatever the setting says.
- It never applies to the staffed voting station, and the kiosk is exempt too.
Next, pin the venue under Settings, Show details, and run a dry run with the check on Ask before show day, so your team has seen the step once.
Keep reading
- Check-in and cards
- Emailing registrants
- Gate Mode
- Gear & services
- Group entries
- Importing entrants
- Judged scoring
- Payments and payouts
- Recurring shows
- Results and awards
- Roles and staff access
- Security and reliability
- Setting up registration
- Spectator donations
- Spectator voting
- Sponsor invoices
- Sponsors and tiers
- Testing your show
- Your own pages
The location check, answered
Is the location saved anywhere?
No. The phone shares its position once, the server compares it to the venue you pinned, and the numbers are thrown away. The only things kept are counts: how many phones were refused, how many were let through unverified, how many a staff member let in.
What happens to someone whose phone refuses to share its location?
Under Ask for location they are let through and counted as unverified. Under Require location they see a code on their screen; any staff member scans it with their own phone, taps Yes, and the voter is in. Nobody is sent away from the show grounds for a phone setting.
Can someone be refused because of their carrier or Wi-Fi?
No. A phone is only ever refused when it shares a location and that location is far from the venue. Network addresses are never used to turn anyone away, because mobile carriers route traffic through hubs in other states and that would refuse people standing at the show.
Does the check need anything set up?
The venue has to be pinned on the map under Settings, Show details, or there is nothing to measure against and the check stays silent. Under Require location you also pick how close a phone has to be.
Does it apply at the voting station?
No. The staffed voting station opened with the day code, so it is at the show by definition and never asks.
