Board Elections: How Nomination and Election
of Board Members Works

We use STV to calculate the results for a multiple-vacancy preferential election. Preferential nominations are an excellent option for multiple-winner elections because voters can indicate their preference for a specific candidate relative to the other board members. In contrast, with plurality, voters are only stating their board member preferences relative to nominees they didn't vote for; there is no way to gauge preference among the candidates they chose. Preferential nominations give a more precise picture of how the voters truly feel about the nominees.

The cumulative voting method, like the preferential voting method, allows voters to express a more accurate degree of preference for the board member nominees. This is because voters can cast more than one vote for any candidate that they really prefer over the others. ElectionBuddy will still pick multiple winners even if a voter can choose to vote for only one candidate.

Common features used when building a ballot for Board of Directors nominations include:

• The “Abstain” option, which allows for voters to abstain from voting on the board of directors ballot question.  Allowing voters to abstain from voting will help prevent voters from nominating board members they don't support.

• Allowing for write-ins, which can be helpful in multiple ways. Along with providing an alternative voting opportunity for voters who do not like any of the candidate(s) nominated for the board of directors position, it can also be useful for collecting nominations during the election process when not enough candidates are available to fill all the vacant seats on the board.

• Random order of your listed candidates changes the order of the nominees each time a voter opens the ballot. This helps eliminate the Ballot Order Effect, which states that candidates are more likely to be voted for when their position on the ballot is higher in relation to the other candidates.

• Candidate profiles, which are an excellent way to inform your voters about the candidates running for the board position. This allows them to make an educated choice on which candidate they should nominate without forcing them to leave the ballot to look up the information on a different web page.

When your elections have a low turnout, decisions get put on hold and members feel unheard. However, everyone is human–people call out sick, others are sent on a business trip on the other side of the country, etc. When life happens, your elections don’t have to be put on the back burner indefinitely.

With easy online voting, your members can participate in your elections from anywhere. With ElectionBuddy, you can facilitate the voting process so your members can vote where it’s convenient for them. The best part? ElectionBuddy’s digital ballot software is intuitive and easy to use, so your members can focus on voicing their stances and not learning how to log in.

ElectionBuddy’s platform allows you to send out automated reminders to your voters about the upcoming election. Your Election Expert from ElectionBuddy will complete your election’s setup to your specifications, including a customized schedule notice! 

Many elections take days or weeks to receive their accurate results. Your Election Expert can guide you on how to receive your results quickly–even instantly for some elections. If your vote requires custom tallying or third-party attestation, just let your Expert know and they’ll take care of the rest.

Every election needs to guarantee security and privacy for voters while maintaining transparency in election practices. 

Each ballot is secure, and your Election Expert can tailor your election to comply with state, provincial, or federal voting systems if necessary. Have industry-specific requirements? No problem–your Elections Expert will ensure your election or meeting is verifiable, transparent, and independently observable.

Experts are available for unbiased, third-party monitoring of elections either through live remote services or on-site. The ElectionBuddy team is available to ensure auditability and compliance throughout your election, even when it comes to issuing certification reports.

Every election needs to guarantee security and privacy for voters while maintaining transparency in election practices. 

Each ballot is secure, and your Election Expert can tailor your election to comply with state, provincial, or federal voting systems if necessary. Have industry-specific requirements? No problem–your Elections Expert will ensure your election or meeting is verifiable, transparent, and independently observable.

Experts are available for unbiased, third-party monitoring of elections either through live remote services or on-site. The ElectionBuddy team is available to ensure auditability and compliance throughout your election, even when it comes to issuing certification reports.

Ballot Security

All ballots are submitted with an SSL encryption, which is the same used by major banks. The connection between your web browser and ElectionBuddy’s server is secure when you open the ballot, make your choices, and submit your ballot. No one can see your choices when voting.

When Integrity settings are set to ‘medium’ or ‘high,’ your voters’ ballots can only be used once. This is tracked using unique access keys which are marked as ‘completed’ once they are used, ensuring each ballot is submitted only one time.

Administrators can see who voted but are restricted from seeing an individual voter’s voting choices. Voter information can be tracked to allow for voting audits, which means voters can use the confirmation code they received following their ballot submission to verify their vote was counted.