How to Conduct a Successful Hybrid Voting Event

It is technologically possible to conduct a binding vote that allows approved participants to vote and have instant vote results.

Many of us have experience with running or attending hybrid meetings with informal votes to make decisions. But has the new normal forced you to rethink how to hold a binding election or voting event within specific legal or bylaw requirements?

→ How do you provide choices that accommodate people with varying levels of health risk, adhere to legal requirements, AND ensure the right person voted on the correct agenda item, for the correct vote weight?

This is a question being asked by every election administrator around the world, as well as by major political parties, local town, city, and county councils, unions, and private sector board members. There is no reason that a binding hybrid vote cannot be successfully administered with currently available technology.

It is technologically possible to conduct a binding vote that allows all approved participants (regardless of location) to submit their vote and have instant results for everyone to view from any location. The question is,how do you make this happen for your specific voting event?

The best way to conduct a hybrid vote is to allow your voters to vote from their own personal device (whether they are attending in person or remotely), or give them the option to vote from a device or set of devices at your meeting location. There are many benefits to allowing your participants to choose whether to vote on their personal device or using the onsite devices your organization provides. One benefit is that this can provide you flexibility to adhere to legal requirements while giving you the ability to conduct appropriate voter validation. Some common requirements to consider are:

• Establish a quorum.
• Ensure the right person had the option to vote on the items they were supposed to have access to and were not able to vote for items they were not supposed to have access to.
• Keep votes either public or private, depending on your needs.
• Give you and your voters the option for proxy votes, or weighted votes to provide maximum flexibility.

In addition to giving your organization flexibility, conducting a hybrid vote will also give your voters flexibility. Instead of forcing them to use one single method, they can choose the option that is right for them. There are several simple reasons your organization and your participants will want this kind of flexibility:

• Provide peace of mind to voters concerned that their health is at risk by attending in person. They can participate knowing they are using the same voting system as everyone who is attending in person and be able to participate from where they feel safest.
• Voters with special seeing or hearing needs are able to use their own personal device with the necessary accommodations, increasing their comfort level, as well as keeping their vote truly secret if that is the goal.
• Voters that are not tech savvy, or do not have a smart phone or computer, are able to vote from a kiosk or device on location. If they have questions or need help, they are able to ask for help and can still submit their vote on their own.

 

If your main goal is a meeting where attendees can choose whether to attend in person or remotely, and conduct an accurate vote, it’s important that remote voters have confidence that their vote is being given the same importance as all meeting attendees. The best way to do this is by having all voters use the same voting solution.

 

There are many solutions that can help you do some or all of these functions. If you’re looking for help finding a solution, there are some links to additional resources below that might help you in your decision-making process.

 

 

 

You’ll note this article does not touch upon paper voting. For the purpose of this article, I have assumed that you are legally allowed to use an online voting or online meeting management tool with voting to conduct your vote. The pros and cons of analog voting is an entirely different topic, that we might cover in the near future. Stay tuned!