diff --git a/helios/models.py b/helios/models.py
index 7e8f166f3b171ff4e197458ee62ed987b904fe3d..6e3f7d78ed527f0b971b37e933f42193167961cc 100644
--- a/helios/models.py
+++ b/helios/models.py
@@ -827,7 +827,10 @@ class Voter(HeliosModel):
     try:
       return utils.hash_b64(value_to_hash)
     except:
-      return utils.hash_b64(value_to_hash.encode('latin-1'))
+      try:
+        return utils.hash_b64(value_to_hash.encode('latin-1'))
+      except:
+        return utils.hash_b64(value_to_hash.encode('utf-8'))        
 
   @property
   def voter_type(self):