General Voting Rules

Last updated: September 26, 2026

These General Voting Rules (hereinafter the "Rules") govern all paid online voting operations hosted on the Laureats.cm platform.

Any person participating in a vote, whether as a Voter, Candidate, or Organizer, is strictly subject to these Rules, which take precedence over any conflicting local guidelines issued by an Organizer.

1. Guiding Principles of the Vote

Every voting campaign hosted on the platform operates under four foundational principles:

1. Algorithmic Impartiality: The public leaderboard updates automatically without subjective human intervention. Each confirmed vote immediately alters the candidate's total and standing on the live leaderboard.
2. Strict Financial Verification: No vote is recorded until the payment provider (Mobile Money operator or card network) definitively confirms receipt of cleared funds.
3. Immutability of Results: All voting movements are recorded in an append-only technical ledger, ensuring end-to-end auditability and traceability of the contest.
4. No Acquired Financial Rights: Casting a vote is a public act of support for a candidate. It is neither a lottery, a wager, nor a financial investment, and confers no monetary or material reward upon the Voter.

2. Voter Eligibility and Participation

2.1. Legal Capacity

Voters must possess the legal capacity required to enter into contracts and execute digital payments, or have explicit authorization from the legitimate account holder of the Mobile Money wallet or bank card used.

2.2. Access Modes

• Direct (Anonymous) Voting: By default, voting does not require creating an account on the platform. The mobile phone number or email address provided during checkout serves as the transaction identifier.
• Authenticated Voting: When an Organizer mandates sign-in for a specific campaign, voting is conditional upon prior authentication via Google or Apple to ensure verifiable participant tracking.

2.3. Voting Limits

Organizers may impose a cap on the maximum number of votes allowed per single voter. Any payment attempt exceeding this configured threshold is automatically blocked by the platform prior to dispatching the payment request.

3. Pricing, Vote Packs, and Conversion

1. Pricing Structure: Unit vote prices and volume-discounted packs are set at the sole discretion of the Organizer. The price per vote may decrease with larger pack volumes.
2. Currencies: Prices are displayed in the campaign's operating currency (Central African CFA Franc - XAF, and where enabled, Euro - EUR or US Dollar - USD). If the Voter's payment method is denominated in another currency, any foreign exchange fees assessed by their bank or provider are their sole responsibility.
3. Nature of the Vote: A purchased vote is consumed immediately and exclusively for the candidate selected during checkout. It cannot be split, transferred to another candidate, rolled over to another campaign, or converted into cash.

4. Technical Processing and Vote Confirmation

1. Payment Initiation:
   • Mobile Money: The Voter enters their mobile number and approves the push notification or dials the on-screen USSD code within a maximum 10-minute window.
   • Bank Card: The Voter completes the transaction on the aggregator's secure checkout page (Campay) with 3-D Secure authentication within a 30-minute window.
2. Definitive Confirmation: A vote is credited and visible on the public leaderboard only upon receipt of formal authorization from the telecommunications carrier or card issuing bank. Pending requests or unconfirmed prompts award zero votes.
3. Idempotency: Each payment order carries a unique reference key. Duplicate network signals or carrier retries are systematically deduplicated: a single payment cannot credit a candidate more than once.

5. Finality and Non-Refundable Policy

1. Immediate Performance of Service: By confirming payment, the Voter expressly requests the immediate allocation of their votes to the Candidate and the instant update of the live leaderboard.
2. Waiver of Withdrawal Rights: Because the digital service is fully performed immediately upon payment confirmation, the Voter expressly waives any statutory right of withdrawal.
3. Contest Circumstances: No votes shall be refunded under any circumstances, including if the supported Candidate:
   • Fails to win the contest or advance through qualification rounds.
   • Voluntarily withdraws from the competition while voting is underway.
   • Is disqualified by the Organizer for breaching specific contest rules.
   • Has their profile removed from the campaign by the Organizer.

6. Campaign Closure and Leaderboard Finalization

1. Automatic Cutoff: Voting closes strictly at the scheduled closing date and time configured by the Organizer (Douala / Yaoundé timezone, UTC+1). At this deadline:
   • The voting checkout interface is immediately disabled.
   • Any in-flight payment request not confirmed by the operator prior to the cutoff is rejected without vote attribution.
   • The public leaderboard is permanently locked.
2. Organizer Responsibility: The platform delivers the certified technical ranking derived from the voting ledger. The Organizer remains solely responsible for officially announcing winners, incorporating any complementary jury scoring, and distributing promised prizes or titles.

7. Payment Anomalies and Technical Arbitration

1. Discrepant Payments ("Under Review"): If the amount cleared by the operator does not match the chosen order price (due to network carrier mismatch or currency rounding), the transaction is held for technical review. The administration audits carrier logs:
   • If verified, votes are credited strictly pro-rata to the actual cleared amount.
   • If the transaction reflects unresolvable network corruption or fraud, the order is cancelled.
2. Card Chargebacks: If a card payment is disputed or reversed by the cardholder’s bank prior to campaign closure, associated votes may be deducted from the candidate’s score to preserve ranking integrity.

8. Anti-Fraud Measures and Enforcement

The following activities are strictly prohibited and constitute serious violations:

• Using bots, emulators, automated scripts, or click farms to generate synthetic votes or manipulate counts.
• Using stolen, forged, or unauthorized payment credentials.
• Attempting to alter server network streams or tamper with displayed scores.

Upon detecting fraudulent activity, Essono Group SARL reserves the right to:

• Unilaterally invalidate and deduct fraudulent votes from the leaderboard.
• Temporarily suspend the offending campaign or candidate page.
• Refer technical access logs and identification data to law enforcement authorities.

9. Disputes and Inquiries

Any inquiry regarding payment tracking or vote attribution must be submitted in writing to [email protected] within seven (7) business days of the incident, including:

• The campaign name and selected candidate.
• The paying telephone number or email address.
• The exact operator transaction reference displayed on the screen or receipt.

Seven (7) days after the final closure of a campaign, the vote ledger is deemed conclusive and no further appeals regarding the technical ranking will be entertained.