How charges and refunds work.

**Last updated: 9 October 2026**

All payments on Balotiq are processed through Paystack, in Ghana Cedis (GHS). On the web, card and Mobile Money details are entered directly on Paystack's hosted payment page and never pass through Balotiq's servers. On USSD (voting by dialing a code on any phone, with no browser to redirect to a payment page), Balotiq's server initiates the Mobile Money charge directly with Paystack using the phone number you dial in from. You still approve the charge on your own network's prompt, and Balotiq never sees or stores your Mobile Money PIN.

Flat-fee elections

Registered elections are charged a one-time flat fee before they can be scheduled. Building the election out (positions, candidates, voter roll) is free; the fee only gates actually opening it to voters. Once an election has been scheduled or opened, this fee is non-refundable, since the service (hosting a live, tallied election) has been delivered. If payment succeeds but you decide not to schedule the election at all, contact [email protected]. Refunds in that case are handled case by case.

Engage votes

Each Engage payment purchases votes for a contestant, either from a fixed package or at a pay-what-you-want rate depending on how the organiser has priced the event, credited to our ledger automatically the moment payment is confirmed. Free voting, where an organiser has priced an event or package at zero, involves no payment and nothing to refund. Because paid votes are credited immediately, Engage payments are non-refundable once the votes have been credited. The one exception is a payment confirmed by Paystack that never results in credited votes, for example, if an event closes in the brief window between starting checkout and payment confirming. Our team reconciles these cases against Paystack's own records and, where votes genuinely can't be credited, issues a refund back to your original payment method. Contact [email protected] with your payment reference if you believe this applies to you.

Membership dues

Each organization sets its own membership types, dues amount, currency, and billing cycle. Balotiq shows the applicable amount before payment and records the covered membership period after Paystack confirms payment. A pending or failed payment does not extend membership. Organizations are responsible for describing membership benefits and cancellation rules. Paid dues are normally non-refundable once applied to a membership period, except for duplicate or erroneous charges, a confirmed payment that was not applied, or where applicable law requires otherwise. Contact the organization first about membership eligibility or cancellation; contact [email protected] with the payment reference for payment-processing issues.

Disputes

If you believe you were charged in error, email [email protected] with your payment reference (shown on your receipt) and a description of the issue. We'll investigate against Paystack's own transaction records before resolving it.