All About eVoting

A definition:

eVoting is a voting technology that enables voters to cast their votes electronically, from their computer, phone, or tablet.

You run an eVote (also referred to as an electronic vote or online vote), with an electronic voting system.

There are numerous ways to accomplish this, but specialized voting software — commonly referred to as online voting systems — alleviate issues prone to arise with less sophisticated methods voting technology (e.g. paper voting, voting by email).

These web-based voting systems have become increasingly popular for organizations who want a simple, secure means of collecting input on important decisions.

These preferences pertain to someone (or a group of people) or something (or a group of things, such as organizational rules).

Examples include:

• Selecting a new board member

• Updating bylaws

• Voting on employee scheduling

At the end of they day, organizations who consider eVoting want a structured decision-making process. This involves understanding what their stakeholders want, and embedding this into how their organization functions.

Many folks wonder if they can use email or free survey & polling software to run a secure eVote.

The answer is, not really.

The issues with email voting

The first technology many look to when wanting to implement an eVote is email.

But while a vote could be accomplished via email, there are significant downsides to this, including:

• Managing of the email voting process, for example:

• Email threads can get unwieldy

• Tracking down who didn’t vote and re-notifying them is a challenge

• There is no centralized display of the results

Low-cost survey & polling software problems

In the same way as email voting, while survey and polling software is attractive (mainly due to its low cost), it lacks many of the important features necessary to ensure the integrity of your vote.

Most survey and polling software has, for example:

• Unsecured voter authentication methods

• Limited auditing capabilities of responses, and results

• Limited capability to stop people from voting twice

Here are some questions you should ask if you’re considering email, or a free or low-cost survey tool to run your votes and elections:

• How do you stop people from voting twice?

• Can you track who has voted?

• Do you have the ability to see how they’ve voted?

• Does the software platform allow you to send out alerts and get detailed information about your results?

• Is the data you share (e.g. names, email addresses, vote details) being shared with third-parties?
  
  

Perhaps a simple Google form or basic survey mechanism could work for a vote that doesn’t matter if a few people vote multiple times, or if it’s not a big deal that email addresses and names find their way outside of the vendor’s organization.

But due to the inevitability that things can go wrong, we don’t recommend it.

An online voting system is the best way to build and manage a secure vote

For the full benefits of security, you should use an online voting system to build, run, and manage your eVote.

If it’s a simple, straightforward vote without a ton of complexities — consider a secure voting tool.

A trusted online voting partner will be proud to show off the ways they ensure the integrity of your vote and protect your data — all while making voting a seamless process for everyone involved.