Whether you’re choosing who gets which award at your company awards, what play your class should perform, or what’s on the menu at your lunch party, you might wish you had an easy way to hold a vote.
Voting in person can acquire a lot of time and resources–read on to learn about websites that let you vote online and how they help you increase voter turnout.
Yes, there are websites that let you vote online, including Election Buddy. While many of these websites are free, some resources require a fee or subscription.
Most voting websites allow you to create a poll, survey, or questionnaire after creating an account. Once that item is created, the website sends a text message or offers a shareable link that you can send to your voters. Often, voters don’t have to download anything in order to vote.
Some websites may allow you to choose multiple options, allow voters to rank options in order of preference, or let voters submit how much they like each option. Voters can also add feedback on the poll. Once votes start coming in, the creator of the poll can sign in to view the results; you may be able to view the results as a graph or chart so they are easy to understand and analyze.
There are several reasons to use a website for conducting votes or polls:
Traditional paper-based voting entails creating and printing ballots, setting a date and time to vote, and counting votes manually. You can avoid all this work by creating and sending out a link to a digital poll.
Paper-based voting obviously requires paper and can use significant resources, especially if the vote is taking place in a large organization. In addition to wasting paper, in-person voting may require that participants travel to a specific place to cast their vote, which costs everyone time and money.
To have an in-person vote, you must communicate when and where the vote is happening and explain parts of the process to participants. With online voting, the need for communication is reduced.
Manual errors in counting are routine, leaving the possibility of some inaccuracy in traditional voting results. Using a website for voting ensures votes are counted correctly and diminishes the chances of mishandling of results.
Voting online offers greater convenience both for the party holding the vote and the party that is voting. For the organization conducting the vote, online voting allows for the ease of holding a vote simply by creating and sharing a link.
For those voting, online voting cuts down on travel time and costs and eliminates any confusion about when, where, and how to vote. This makes it more likely for voters to want to participate, making online voting one of the best ways to increase voter participation.
There are many kinds of subjects for which you can use voting websites. From voting on ideas and rule changes to voting for representatives and contest winners, online voting systems can be used in a variety of contexts. Here are some election ideas for high schools, higher education institutions, and profit and non-profit organizations.
With virtual voting platforms like ElectionBuddy, conducting online polls or elections and tallying votes becomes a breeze. Try us out the next time a vote is needed at your school or company!