Before, During and After: Your Comprehensive Remote Elections Guide

Before, During and After: Your Comprehensive Remote Elections Guide

Many student organizations are facing the end of the semester in a way they couldn't have anticipated: remotely. What does your organization need to know about remote elections? What should you consider as you're building out your remote elections and leadership transitions plan? The Center for Campus Involvement's Leadership Consultant team, a group of peer-educators, want to share their best practices and ideas based on research into the remote elections process for student organizations. Further reading and resources can be found at https://campusinvolvement.umich.edu/article/leadership-learning-library

BEFORE holding Remote Elections:

Assessing Tech Needs

Before you hold remote elections, you should assess the technology needs of your organization. Don't assume that everyone has access to high-speed internet or to all of the platforms you're exploring.

Try sending a survey to members with questions like:

  • What technology do you have available to use?

  • What is your internet reliability? 

  • Which conferencing formats work best for you?

  • What time zone are you currently in?

  • Collect anonymously (depending on your org)

 

Communication

Especially in our current virtual communication landscape, it's important to consider how and what you are communicating to your members about your elections process. Here are some things to consider:

  • Using scheduling sites (like Doodle, Google Calendar) to confirm dates and times that work for all members 

  • Sending detailed agenda of election procedures:

    • Campaigns/ introducing candidates & their platforms

    • How the election process will look 

    • Expected timeline

    • Official times/dates of the election 

    • How and when to vote 

      • Offer a voting window for accessibility purposes 

  • What items should be completed to prepare?

    • Implicit bias training (visit the Leadership Learning Library for resources!)

    • Fairness agreements within members 

    • Understanding of the organization’s mission and purpose 

    • Overview of plans for the upcoming school year 

  • Frequency of communication 

    • Updates and reminders

    • Are you making sure that everyone is receiving messages?

 

Voting Methods to Consider:

Here are a couple of voting systems that you might consider as you build out your election plan:

One Vote System: A system where club members select one candidate for a position on the ballot form.

Benefits of using a One Vote System

  1. Very easy to set up and run

  2. Votes can be quickly counted

  3. Ideal for positions with two candidates

Complications with using a One Vote System

  1. More prone to ties than the ‘Ranked Voting’ system.

  2. Not ideal for elections with more than two candidates (as preferences are not considered).

  3. The elected candidate can be chosen by a single member (typically Returning Officer or
    Chairperson) in the event of a tie.

Ranked Voting System: A system where club members rank their preference numerically (e.g: ‘1’ for first preference) for each candidate on the ballot form.

Benefits of using a Ranked Voting System

  1. Ideal for elections with more than three candidates

  2. Ties are very unlikely

  3. More representative of member preferences

  4. Reduces the possibility of ‘spoiler effect’; where two similar candidates divide the votes of a group,
    allowing a third (less popular) candidate to gain the majority.

Complications with using a Ranked Voting System

  1. Voting is a longer process

  2. Counting votes takes longer than ‘One Vote’ system in the event of ties

  3. More prone to error (not numbering all candidates, missing numbers, etc.)

  4. Prompts members to provide preferences for candidates they may not wish to support.

For Further Reading: http://1hkfri2zglk7386vvq1bw1wgs24.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/FUSA-Guide-to-Running-Club-Elections.pdf

 

Voting Software Check List

As you explore software programs and platforms to hold your elections through, make sure that you're picking something that is:

  • Free

  • Accessible from all locations 

  • Able to provide a time window

  • Records anonymously

  • Limits voters to one vote 

  • Requires some form of membership identification

 

Considerations & Reflection Questions for Planning Remote Elections

  • Do candidates make a speech? How will they do it?

    • Live stream

    • Virtual uploads

      • Video

      • Audio

    • Do all candidates have access to the platform?

      • internet & technology accessibility 

    • Consistency for all candidates

      • Accommodating to the least common denominator (eg. if one person can do voice call and everyone else can do voice and video, you can make things fairer by asking everyone to just voice call)

    • Recording all live streams for members unable to attend live

  • How do voters receive information on candidates?

    • What platform will be used to present candidate info

    • How long will it be available for viewer access

    • Does it require outside software to be downloaded to use

      • "Safe-er” options: text box with candidate headshot, youtube video with all candidate videos merged 

  • Can candidates make a virtual speech of their platform? 

    • Make sure that candidates are able to explain their platforms in other ways as well (E-board can read all platforms or email platforms).

DURING Remote Elections:

Voting Platforms to Explore

Voting platforms come with a wide variety of complexities and settings. Find the platform that is right for your organization! It's certainly not one size fits all, so please make sure you're considering the voting platform checklist from the last section. Here are some platforms we've collected, but this list isn't exhaustive!

 

Logistics

We're a virtual campus right now, which means that as a student organization, your members are likely physically, emotionally and technologically in very different places. Consider these logistical concerns as you're holding your elections.

  • Allowing extra time for voting

    • Time zones, people may forget

  • Overcommunication

    • People may be thinking of other things and might forget

  • Voting for those without internet access

    • Phone voting, mail voting

    • Text line (e.g. “text candidate number to xxx-xx”)

    • Extended time to vote

    • Attempting to ensure anonymity without the internet is difficult

  • Dealing with difficulties

    • Extend voting time to allot for this

    • Potential trial run of survey (within the executive board, or small trial group) to check if it works

 

Critical Questions for Voting Members to ask themselves:

  • Am I choosing the right candidate?

  • What issues are important to me?

  • How can I make sure that voting processes remain as fair as possible?

  • What are some barriers to voting? 

  • Why might people decide not to vote right now?

AFTER holding Remote Elections

Communicating Voting Results:

  • What to keep in mind 

    • Second eyes: Make sure that more than one person is counting votes if possible, to ensure they've been counted correctly. We all make mistakes sometimes, especially when working with new voting systems, so make sure to get a second set of eyes on the votes for fairness (maybe someone who’s graduating would be a good neutral party!).

    • Being transparent 

    • Accessible information 

      • Instagram 

      • Common app for communication

  • Methods of Disclosing results     

    • Powerpoint

      • Explaining gathering & processing votes 

      • Slides for each chosen candidate

    • Email 

    • Note: Make sure to check in with all candidates before announcing results! Make sure they’re on the same page, and that winning candidates accept their positions. When results are finalized, then contact the whole organization.

Transitioning New Officers

Critical Questions for Your Org about Your Elections Process:

  • Did everyone get a fair chance to have their voice heard? How would you adjust for that when we come back?

  • How are we ensuring that we’re being transparent but confidential?

  • Are we preparing new officers to be successful in their new role? (consult Leadership Resource Library)