Run In-Person Kiosk Voting with ID Verification
Kiosk mode turns a small number of shared devices into a Verification Station, a Voting Booth, or an Agent Monitor — paired once each by staff via a single-use link or short code, with no personal login required from voters.
For School administrators. Updated 2026-09-18.
Overview
Kiosk mode is an election-level toggle for in-person, shared-device voting, for schools that queue students up at a few laptops or tablets rather than having everyone log in on their own device.
Once enabled, staff open the Kiosk Stations panel in the election builder and pair each physical device into one of three roles: a Verification Station (an officer looks up a voter's ID and confirms their identity), a Voting Booth (a verified voter types their own ID and completes an anonymous ballot), or an Agent Monitor (a read-only screen a candidate's agent watches, which only ever shows verification events — never ballot content or who has voted).
Pairing produces two equally valid, single-use credentials: a link, or a short human-typeable activation code for a device with no way to receive a link. Either one is redeemed once at https://portal.myschoolgh.com/elections/kiosk/activate or by opening the link directly, and expires after 30 minutes if unused.
A verified voter has a limited window (15 minutes by default) to reach a booth before the verification expires and they must be re-verified. The whole design keeps the anonymity guarantee intact: verification and voting are deliberately never linked in any event a monitor or officer screen can see.
Before you start
- Have the “manage election” permission permission to enable kiosk mode and pair devices
- The election must still be open for voting to pair a new device
Steps
- In the election builder, turn on "Require in-person ID verification (kiosk mode)"
- Open the Kiosk Stations panel
- Select Pair a device, choose its role (Verification Station, Voting Booth, or Agent Monitor), and give it a label
- On the physical device, open the pairing link, or go to https://portal.myschoolgh.com/elections/kiosk/activate and type the short activation code
- At the Verification Station, look up each voter by ID and select Verify once their identity is confirmed
- The voter goes to a paired Voting Booth, enters their own ID, confirms "is this you?", and completes the ballot
- Agents watch the Agent Monitor screen, which only ever shows verification events
Common problems
The pairing link or code says it has already been used
Both are single-use by design. Pair the device again from the Kiosk Stations panel to get a fresh link and code.
A voter can't vote at the booth even though they were just verified
Verification expires after the configured window (15 minutes by default). If too much time passed reaching the booth, have the officer verify them again.
The Kiosk Stations panel won't offer to pair a new device
Pairing is disabled once the election has closed or results are published, since there is nothing left for a new device to do.
The Agent Monitor shows a voter as verified but never shows them voting
This is intentional — the monitor is only ever told about verification events, never about ballots, so an agent can watch the process without ever learning how (or whether) a specific person voted.