For many organisations, elections are still surprisingly fragile. Ballot papers go missing. Results take hours, sometimes days. Members complain about the inability to participate. Votes are disputed. Questions emerge about fairness, transparency, or whether people even understood the process in the first place. In some cases, the consequences go further than frustration. Elections become contentious, relationships deteriorate, and organisations find themselves navigating reputational fallout, internal division, or legal disputes. Yet for many institutions, governments included, across Trinidad and Tobago and the wider Caribbean, these challenges
have remained accepted as part of the process. It was a reality that technology specialist Omar Romero encountered repeatedly through his work with organisations navigating large-scale meetings and elections. As founder and CEO of ROSE IT Services Limited, Romero had spent years helping organisations manage digital systems and complex event environments. But during the Covid-19 pandemic, one question kept resurfacing as annual general meetings moved online: how do you hold a secure, transparent election when people are no longer in the same room? The answer
led to the development of iVote Live, a digital voting platform originally designed to help credit unions manage elections during annual general meetings, particularly among members who were not necessarily comfortable with technology. “We wanted something people could actually use,” Romero explained. “A lot of platforms looked good in theory, but when you’re dealing with hundreds of people, including mature members who may not be very tech-savvy, it becomes difficult very quickly. It had to be simple.” That focus on accessibility has quietly become one
of the platform’s strongest differentiators. Rather than requiring complicated logins or technical expertise, users receive a unique voter ID and can cast votes in minutes from their phones or devices. Behind the scenes, the system maintains a full audit trail, recording timestamps and verification data to support transparency and accountability. What began as a solution for one challenge soon revealed a much larger problem. Since 2020, the platform has supported more than 200 elections, including large-scale credit union annual general meetings, pension elections, and governance
processes involving thousands of participants, with adoption extending beyond T&T into Guyana. Romero says the feedback often follows a familiar pattern: hesitation at first, followed by surprise. “People come in sceptical. They say they prefer paper, or they’re unsure about technology. Then they try it and realise it’s actually easier than they expected.” In one instance, the platform was used to support elections involving persons with visual limitations, where profile images and simplified interfaces helped participants navigate a process that had previously created challenges. For
Romero, the issue extends beyond convenience. “When leadership decisions are being made, people need confidence in the process,” he said. “Good governance starts with trust.” As organisations face increasing pressure to modernise governance, improve participation, and create more transparent systems, digital election infrastructure may no longer feel optional. The question now may be less about whether organisations are willing to change, and more about how long they can afford not to. For more information, visit rose-virtual.com, follow @roseitsl on Instagram or email info@rose-virtual.com.
iVote Live, digital voting, ROSE IT Services Limited, Omar Romero, elections, credit unions, pension elections, governance, audit trail, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana