Spectator voting: QR ballots, open and closed shows
Spectators vote by scanning the QR code on any windshield card and entering a car number. This covers what open and closed voting actually change, how duplicate votes are limited, and why voting only works at the show.
Updated August 22, 2026
Every car in your show gets a windshield card, and every card carries that car’s own QR code. A spectator points a phone at any card, the ballot opens, they type the number of the car they liked, and the vote lands. No app, no account, no line at a ballot box.
What a voter actually does
The card is the entry point, which is worth understanding because it changes how you lay out the field. A voter does not need to find a specific car’s card to vote for that car; scanning any card opens the ballot, and then they enter the number. Cards are the invitation, not the ballot itself.
That means a card blown off a dash does not disenfranchise anyone, and a spectator who scanned at the front of the field can vote for something they saw at the back.
Open voting and closed voting
Shows disagree about who should get a say, and both traditions are old and defensible.
| Setting | Who votes | Typical show |
|---|---|---|
| Open | Anyone at the show | Public charity shows, cruise-ins, anything selling spectator admission |
| Closed | Participants only | Club shows where entrants judge each other, invitationals |
Whichever you pick, your show page says so in plain words. Ambiguity about who may vote is where arguments start, and the fix is telling people up front rather than at the trophy table.
The mixed case most shows actually want
A closed show does not have to shut the crowd out entirely. At a closed show, spectators can still vote People’s Choice while your participant-only classes stay participant-only.
This is the arrangement a lot of clubs already run informally, where members pick the class winners and the public picks a crowd favorite. It used to take a workaround. Now it is what the setting does.
Duplicate protection, honestly described
Ballots are limited to one vote per person per category, with duplicate protection layered on top of that. Depending on how you have set up the show, the ballot may ask for an identifying field, which is what gives the limit something to work with.
Be clear-eyed about what this is. No crowd voting system on earth is tamper proof, and anyone who tells you otherwise is selling something. What this does is remove the easy repeat voting that makes an unattended ballot box meaningless, which is the actual failure mode at car shows.
Why voting is on site only
Voting works at the show. There is no remote ballot, and that is a design decision rather than a gap in the feature.
A ballot reachable from anywhere stops measuring the show and starts measuring whose family group chat is largest. Every organizer who has run an online poll has watched a mediocre car win because its owner has four hundred cousins. Keeping the ballot at the show keeps People’s Choice meaning the people who chose to be there.
Spectators without a phone
Some part of your crowd is not carrying a smartphone, and at plenty of shows that part skews toward exactly the people whose opinion the field most wants.
Put a voting station on the registration table: a tablet, open to the ballot, that anyone can use. It costs you a spare device and a minute of setup, and it means nobody is turned away from voting because of the hardware in their pocket.
What the top list means
Shows disagree about what a Top 25 is. For some it means the twenty-five cars with the most votes overall. For others it means the runners-up behind Best of Show.
Both are available as a setting, and your results page states which convention your show used. Picking one in advance is how you avoid explaining the distinction to somebody holding a plaque.
The moment voting closes
Votes tally as they arrive rather than in a batch at the end, so closing voting does not start a count. It ends one.
The hour that used to go to sorting paper slips on a folding table simply is not there any more. Winners are ready as soon as you close the ballot, which means the awards ceremony can start while the crowd is still on the field instead of after half of it has driven home. If you have never run a show this way, budget the hour anyway the first time, then enjoy having it back.
Keep reading
Spectator voting, answered
Can people vote without being at the show?
No. Voting works at the show, from the QR code on a windshield card, and the ballot closes when you close it. That is a deliberate limit rather than a missing feature: a ballot anyone can reach from a couch is a ballot the biggest group chat wins, and the whole point of People's Choice is the people who showed up.
What stops one person voting fifty times?
Ballots are limited to one vote per person per category, with duplicate protection on top. It is not a bank vault, and no crowd voting system is, but it stops the casual repeat voting that makes a paper ballot box meaningless.
What is the difference between open and closed voting?
Open voting means anyone at the show can vote. Closed voting means only participants can. Both are legitimate traditions, and your show page states which one you run in plain words, so nobody has to guess at the ballot.
Can we run closed voting and still have a crowd favorite?
Yes. At a closed show, spectators can still vote People's Choice while your judged or participant-only classes stay restricted. That split used to need a workaround at most shows. Here it is just how the setting behaves.
What about people who did not bring a phone?
Set up a voting station: a tablet on the registration table that someone can use to cast a ballot. It is a practical accommodation for the part of your crowd that is not carrying a smartphone, and it takes about a minute to put out.
Watch a ballot go in
The demo show has voting open, so you can scan, vote, and see the leaderboard move.
