How Car Show Expert runs People's Choice voting
People's Choice is often the most-watched award at a community show. The voting system needs to feel fair, run without manual effort, and produce a clean result.
QR code voting on every dash card
Every registered vehicle gets a unique QR code on its digital and printed dash card. Attendees scan the code on their phone to cast a People's Choice vote — no app, no login, no paper ballots to count.
One vote per person, enforced automatically
Car Show Expert uses a combination of a browser UUID and IP address to limit voting to one ballot per attendee per show. Duplicate votes are silently rejected. No poker chips, no tally sheets, no dispute.
Hard close time you control
Set a voting window — polls open when the show goes live and close at a time you choose. Late votes are rejected automatically. You control the exact close time from the show settings, so there's no ambiguity when polls close.
Live vote count visible to the organiser
As attendees vote, the organiser sees a live leaderboard showing vote counts per vehicle. You can watch the count build in real time and see which entries are leading before polls close.
Works on any phone — no app required
Attendees scan the QR code on a dash card with their phone's camera. The voting page opens in the browser. They tap their choice and they're done. No app to download, no account to create.
Results ready the moment polls close
When the voting window closes, People's Choice winners are ranked automatically by vote count. Export results or read them off the live leaderboard at the trophy ceremony.
What voting looks like for an attendee
- 1Attendee walks up to a car they like and scans the QR code on the dash card
- 2Their phone's browser opens the voting page instantly — no app, no login
- 3They see the car's entry details and tap 'Vote for this car'
- 4Vote is recorded and confirmed on screen
- 5They can browse more cars but cannot vote again in the same show
Why People's Choice matters
People's Choice is the most democratic award at a car show — and the most talked about. Running it cleanly, with a clear close time and an auditable result, is the difference between a moment the crowd celebrates and one they argue about in the parking lot afterward.
Common questions
- How does Car Show Expert prevent people from voting multiple times?
- Each browser is issued a unique identifier (UUID) at first visit, stored locally on the device. Votes are also tied to an IP address. If the same device or IP submits multiple votes in the same show, duplicates are rejected. This isn't foolproof against a determined bad actor, but it prevents casual stuffing and is proportionate to the stakes of a People's Choice award.
- Can attendees vote for any car, or only cars in their class?
- People's Choice voting is open to all attendees — they can vote for any registered vehicle regardless of class. There is no class restriction on the People's Choice ballot.
- Do entrants vote for themselves?
- Entrants can technically cast a vote like any attendee — there's no way to exclude them and no good reason to. People's Choice at most shows is a popularity contest as much as a judging exercise, and self-votes are a known and accepted part of that.
- When does voting open and close?
- You set both the open and close time in the show settings. Voting opens automatically at the configured time and closes hard at the configured end time — no manual intervention required.
- Is People's Choice voting available on the Free plan?
- People's Choice voting is an Expert Show feature. Expert status is a one-time upgrade per show. Once unlocked, voting is available for that show permanently.
- Can I run People's Choice alongside judged classes?
- Yes — and most shows do. People's Choice and judged class scoring run independently. An entrant can win their judged class and People's Choice, or win one and not the other.