User Guide

Welcome to Voxt — a civic engagement platform where UK citizens debate, vote, and shape policy on the issues that matter.

This guide explains how Voxt works, what you can do at each stage of your Civic Journey, and how to make the most of the platform.

Getting Started

When you first join Voxt, you begin as an Observer. At this stage you can browse all public issues, categories, debates, votes, and polls across the platform.

To start progressing, explore an issue — simply opening an issue page earns your first point and begins your Civic Journey.

Browsing Issues

Issues are the core of Voxt. Each issue sits within a category and subcategory that reflects its policy area — for example, Health > NHS > A&E Waiting Times.

Every issue has a scope indicating its democratic level:

Local — affects a specific area or council
Regional — affects a region or devolved area
Nation — affects a specific nation (England, Scotland, Wales, or Northern Ireland)
National — affects the whole of the United Kingdom

You can browse issues by category, search by keyword, or filter by scope and status.

Your Civic Journey

Your Civic Journey tracks your engagement on Voxt. As you participate, you earn points and progress through tiers that unlock new capabilities.

Tiers

Tier	Levels	What you can do
Observer	0	Browse all content
Participant	1–10	Vote on polls and formal votes
Contributor	11–20	Add arguments to debates, submit media links
Advocate	21–30	Create polls on issues
Steward	31–50	Future community trust features

Earning Points

Action	Points
Explore an issue (max 1 per day)	+1
Vote on a poll or formal vote	+1
Add an argument to a debate	+3
Submit a media link	+3
Create a poll	+5
Complete a daily civic action	+2
Complete all daily actions	+3 bonus

Daily Civic Actions

Each day, Voxt suggests up to two civic actions suited to your current tier. These are optional and rotate daily. Completing them earns bonus points.

Voting

Once you reach Participant tier, you can vote on two types of items:

Formal Votes

Formal votes mirror parliamentary-style divisions. You choose For, Against, or Abstain. These are created by moderators and administrators and are designed for structured civic decision-making.

Each vote has opening and closing dates. You can only vote once per item.

Polls

Polls are informal questions with multiple answer options. They are a lighter way to gauge public opinion on an issue. You can respond to any open poll once.

After voting, you can see how others have responded through the aggregate results.

Debates

Debates are structured discussions on a proposition or question within an issue.

Adding Arguments

Once you reach Contributor tier (Level 11+), you can add arguments to debates. Each argument is positioned as either For or Against the debate proposition.

Write clearly and support your position with reasoning or evidence. Good arguments tend to receive more upvotes from other users.

Counter-Arguments

You can respond directly to any argument by adding a counter-argument. This creates a threaded discussion where each point can be challenged or supported. Counter-arguments are automatically positioned on the opposite side to the argument they respond to.

Upvoting and Downvoting

All users can upvote or downvote arguments. This helps surface the strongest arguments on each side of a debate. Vote based on the quality of the argument, not just whether you agree with it.

Submitting Media Links

From Contributor tier onwards, you can submit media links to support discussion on an issue. These might include:

Articles — news reports or opinion pieces
Videos — documentaries, interviews, or explainers
Documents — research papers, reports, or official publications
Official sources — government publications, parliamentary records, or statistical data

When submitting a link, provide a clear title, the source name, and a brief summary of what the resource covers and why it is relevant.

Creating Polls

At Advocate tier (Level 21+), you can create your own polls on issues. When creating a poll:

Choose the issue the poll relates to
Write a clear question as the title
Add a description providing context
List at least two answer options (comma-separated)
Set opening and closing dates

Your poll will be visible to all users who can see the parent issue. Other users will be able to respond and see aggregate results.

Issues and Scope

Each issue on Voxt has a scope that indicates which level of democracy it relates to:

Local — town, city, or council-level matters
Regional — county, metropolitan, or regional issues
Nation — issues specific to England, Scotland, Wales, or Northern Ireland
National — UK-wide issues affecting the whole country

You can filter issues by scope when browsing categories to focus on the level that matters most to you.

Organisations

Voxt supports private spaces for organisations such as schools, unions, and community groups. Within an organisation, members can:

View private issues visible only to the organisation
Run private polls and debates
Discuss matters relevant to their group

Organisation membership is managed by the organisation owner or administrators.

Your Account

Profile

Your profile shows your display name, location, civic journey progress, and recent activity. You can edit your display name and location fields at any time.

Account Settings

From Account Settings you can:

Change your email address (requires password confirmation)
Change your password
Download your data as JSON or PDF
Delete your account (14-day cooling-off period applies)

Data Export

You can download a complete copy of all data Voxt holds about you. This includes your profile, votes, poll responses, debate arguments, media submissions, points history, and organisation memberships.

Account Deletion

If you choose to delete your account, it enters a 14-day cooling-off period during which you can log in and restore it. After 14 days, your personal data is permanently removed and your contributions are anonymised.

Moderation and Community Standards

Voxt is moderated to maintain respectful, constructive civic discourse. You can report content that you believe violates our Community Standards using the Report button.

Moderators may hide or remove content, and adjust user points with a recorded reason. All moderation actions are logged for accountability.

Privacy and Data Protection

Voxt takes your privacy seriously. We process political opinion data under explicit consent, and you can withdraw consent at any time by deleting your account.

For full details, see our Privacy Policy, Terms of Service, and Cookie Policy — all accessible from the footer of every page.

Need Help?

If you have questions or need assistance, contact support@voxt.uk.