To: European Broadcasting Union and all participating broadcasters,

Current efforts to update the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) voting system are woefully insufficient. To ensure the contest's integrity, fairness and long-term viability a decisive overhaul is required. 

WE DEMAND the urgent implementation of the following comprehensive technical and procedural reforms.

Demand #1: The "3-Vote Cap" & Two-Tier Verification
The decrease of the total vote cap per payment method (from 20 to 10) planned for 2026 fails to prevent mass-voting campaigns or disproportionate influence based on financial resources.
To address these issues, we demand at least these improvements:

• Strict 3-Vote Cap (Immediate Implementation): The maximum votes an individual can cast for a single entry must be limited to THREE. The total votes per person across all entries must remain high (20-30). These caps must apply to a unique phone number. Every SMS, call, online vote must be associated with a unique phone number.
• Two-Tier Verified Voting (Target: 2029): Verified Voters: Users verified via secure ID systems (e.g., EU Digital Identity Wallet, Bank ID) retain the standard limits (3 per entry, 30 total).
  Unverified Voters: Users without secure ID verification are restricted to 1 vote per entry and a maximum of 10 total votes.

Goal: Equalizes every voter influence, mobilizes participation, prevents "vote dumping" on a single entry and destroys the scalability of paid voting campaigns.

Demand #2: Technical Enforcement & Unified Verification
Caps are meaningless without enforcement. A Unified Verification System linking all voting methods is mandatory and must be capable of at least the following:

• Pre-Payment Verification: Online voting must require SMS and E-mail verification codes before payment processing. Online votes must be associated with the unique phone number to which the verification SMS was sent.
• Device Locking: Payment details, verified email and device “fingerprints” must be locked to a unique verified phone number. It must be technically impossible to associate these credentials with multiple numbers and vice versa.
• Unified Counting: Online, SMS and Call votes associated with the same phone number must be aggregated.
  Example: 1 SMS for entry 7 + 2 Calls for entry 12 + 3 App/online votes for entry 3 are associated with the same phone number, totaling 6 votes. All votes are legitimate and counted, as the "3-Vote Cap" and total cap are respected.
• Chronological Count & Discarding: Votes are counted by timestamp. Once a unique phone number reaches any cap limit, subsequent votes are discarded and not counted towards the entry.
• Data Retention: Historical voting data must be archived for cross-year pattern analysis to identify fraud.
• Future API Integration: The system must support API integration with external identity providers (Government/Bank ID) to facilitate Demand #1.

Goal: Effectively decreases malignant interference and voting manipulation, increasing the credibility of the voting system at ESC.

Demand #3: Continuous Weighted Scoring
The current Top 10 ranking system for public vote fails to capture the full spectrum of audience preference as it arbitrarily discards valid precious votes and results in the humiliating statistical anomaly of "Zero Points". 
We demand the immediate implementation of a continuous weighted ranking for the Grand Final public vote:

• Continuous Allocation: In the Grand Final only, public votes from all participating countries and Rest of the World (RTW) must allocate a score to every competing entry (except the country's own).
• 0.5 Point Increment (more clarification in demand #4): Points are assigned on an ascending scale based on ranking (e.g., for 26 entries: Last Place = 0.5 points; First Place = 12.5 points; scoring from RTW depends on the number of participating countries).
• Presentation: Cumulative total public scores per entry are rounded up to the nearest whole number.

Goal: Eliminates mortifying "Zero Points", incentivizes voting by ensuring every legitimate vote contributes to the final score and dilutes the impact of fraudulent voting interference (only if all anti-fraud measures are enforced).

Demand #4: Rebalancing the Grand Final
There is no need for "quality control" in the Grand Final as all 20 qualified entries (~75% out of all entries) will have passed through the "jury filter" following the reintroduction of juries to the Semi-Finals in 2026 (50/50 split). The public vote must be the major decision-maker for the ESC winner in Grand Final, while keeping the jury vote in place with a reduced weight of ~25%.

• No Scoring Change Required: By implementing the Continuous Weighted Scoring (Demand #3), the ratio shifts naturally without changing the Jury's 1-8,10,12 scoring (a.k.a. “Douze Points”).
• Scoring from RTW depends on the number of participating countries (N):
   - number of points for the entry ranked last = ( round(2N / 3,5) ) / 2,
   - number of points for the entry ranked first = ( round(2N / 3,5) ) / 2 + 12,5 (when 26 entries are ranked with increment of 0,5 point),
   - total number of points from RTW = ( round(2N / 3,5) ) x 13 + 162,5.
• For example, when 37 countries and RTW vote for 26 entries:
   - jury contribution: 2146 total points (58x37),
   - public contribution: 6448 total points (162,5x37 + 435,5),
   - result: ~24.97% Jury / ~75.03% Public (final split slightly fluctuates due to rounding on various steps of calculation).
• Jury Role: Retained as a stabilizer against populism and block voting, helping to highlight an obvious winner that excels. Can be used as a tiebreaker via the "Douze Points" mechanic.

Goal: When all effective anti-fraud measures are in place, this change restores the audience as the primary decision-maker while maintaining professional oversight.
ESC should be driven by PEOPLE and guided by PROFESSIONALS, not the other way around!

Demand #5: Incentive & Ethical Mobilization
Communicating voting system enhancements to the public and providing a compelling reason to vote is crucial to maximize general public turnout:

• Charitable Allocation: Surplus revenue (after direct technical/administrative costs) must be directed to established international NGOs (Human Rights/Environmental).
• Promotion: it must clearly explain that the new "Continuous Scoring" means no vote is wasted, highlighting the increased weight of the public vote and anti-fraud measures to directly incentivize participation.

Goal: Shifts motivation from simple fandom to ethical participation, increasing volume and legitimacy.

Demand #6: Public Audit & Transparency
Trust requires verification, not just professional assurances! Therefore, we demand:

• Raw Data Audit: The EBU must establish a transparent audit of Grand Final and Semi-Final voting data, focusing on raw logs and calculations.
• Independent Oversight: Designated independent representatives (e.g., OGAE and its regional clubs, relevant NGOs and other interested parties) must have the right to observe the audit, verify raw voting data alongside official auditors, make their own report and be vocal about any discrepancies in raw voting data generation and processing.
• Immediate Data Publication: Raw vote totals (absolute numbers) per entry, broken down by each participating country and RTW, must be published immediately after the results are broadcast on air.

Goal: Eliminates speculation, proves the voting system's enhanced resilience to fraud and forces accountability.

TIME FOR TINKERING IS OVER! TIME FOR GENUINE OVERHAUL IS NOW!!!

Respectfully submitted,
The Global Audience of the Eurovision Song Contest

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Feel free to send your questions, ideas, feedback or just “Hi” 😊 to esc.publicwatch@mailbox.org — everything is warmly welcomed!
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