BN_IT_Support Posted August 25, 2020 Posted August 25, 2020 In June and July this year we successfully used the "Elections System" for elections of our Directors and Executive Committee. Only members can vote. All members are eligible to vote for some positions whereas other positions are regional so only those members residing within that region are eligible to vote. This was so easy to set up within the Elections System! Before deciding to use the Elections System we looked at alternative products but could not find any that integrated with our membership database - let alone in such a straightforward way. Also, we approached 3rd party organisations to get quotes for the cost of running our elections. Quotes were returned upwards of £300 for one-off elections and we would have to pay the same for next year's elections and so on. (I believe the quotes were under-estimates because they did not fully understand the complexity.) Was this a cost effective solution? Go work it out for yourself! Driven by Covid-19 (and a desire to move into the 21st Century) we will also be doing online voting for our AGM Motions - but they will use the "polling" function built into the forums. Back to the Elections System and our experience. We used version 1.0.4 because that was the version that we tested before going live. I note that 1.0.9 has been released and it enhances a few things - which is really great! Previously you had to create an "Organisation" and add all nominees to an organisation - which was a pointless extra step for us as we only have one organisation (and the IPS group structure is the way to manage regional eligibility to vote). Organisations are now optional which saves that extra step. Thanks! Nominees may now attach their "manifesto" ("election address") to their avatar in the ballot so that potential voters can click on the manifestos before deciding who to vote for. Thanks! There are still a few quirks with scope for improvement, but I certainly recommend this product. Quirks: For a nominee who is not in an organisation their avatar on the ballot shows a failed image load at the lower right (they have no organisation image to load at this point) When you click on the "manifesto" link for a nominee the manifesto pops up fine (which is good) but the title shows "json--1--" It would be good if there was an option to hide the "running total of votes" during the election. Furthermore, at the end of the election only the election officials (perhaps one or more selected groups) should be able to see the results. Certainly, the election officials should see the results before the voters so that any disputes can be resolved. (We have our own plugin to hide the running totals -- so that's an easy thing to do.) Other than that - great work! Thanks John
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