Problem: When Code Incorporated, one of the world's largest suppliers of election equipment, was looking for ideas for a ballot box to be used in under developed countries, they turned to the experts at Ottawa's Canus Plastics. Code was already looking at an election box from a European manufacturer but the cost was prohibitive at $150 per unit. The challenge was to come up with a design that was easy to produce, inexpensive, reusable, and absolutely tamper proof.
Solution: "We had never designed anything like it," says Canus President Fred Rendell. "After they explained what they wanted, we went ahead and manufactured a prototype, at their expense, which consisted of a basic box with a vacuum formed lid." Code was impressed with the prototype, and the speed at which it was produced. While the initial prototype met all of the requirements, they asked if they could add further refinements. They requested that the box be made from clear plastic material and be collapsible. During a night of insomnia, Mr Rendell came up with the idea of clear plastic interlocking sides. This would solve the problem of transparency and allow the box to be easily collapsed to save on shipping and storage costs. The following day another full-sized working prototype was created using Canus' computer engraving machine to see if the idea was feasible. The result was The Perfect Ballot box and Code asked for the world wide distribution rights. The design of the Perfect Ballot Box was finalized in 1999 and to the end of 2002, Canus has delivered more than 46,000 units to various jurisdictions including Yemen, Djibouti, Madagascar, Mauritania, Guinea Bassau, Albania, Guyana, The Falkland Islands and Canada (Iqualuit & Nova Scotia). In December 2002, the United Nations announced that Canus' Perfect Ballot Box had been selected as the Ballot Box to be used in all future U.N. supervised elections.