Efficient elections and increased participation
Universities hold regular elections for a number of positions, including for student government, university leadership, and faculty councils. On top of these elections, certain affiliated groups, like alumni associations and governing boards, often hold meetings in which decisions are made through voting.
Each of these decision-making processes can be complicated on their own and organizing multiple events throughout the year takes significant time and resources. Luckily, an online voting solution can make any university election or decision-making meeting simple and cost-effective, all while boosting participation.
Simplified and Streamlined Events
With an online voting solution in place, organizing elections and meetings is as easy as ever. Simply input the event information, including dates, candidate information, and agenda items, into the online platform, and you are ready to go.
There’s no need to print and distribute materials, and your solution provider will work with you to ensure that each eligible participant has the necessary credentials to access the online portal, and that all your election rules are met, including weighted votes and voter roles, proxy voting, and runoff procedures. Any well-equipped online voting solution should also allow for multiple ballots per election, if necessary, as well as various ballot and question types.
When an online decision-making meeting or election begins, participants simply log on to the voting portal from their personal device, and vote on relevant races or agenda items. Results are then immediately tabulated and finalized as soon as the event ends.
Increased Participation
Any combination of students, faculty, staff, alumni, or board members may participate in any given university election or decision-making process. Encouraging in person voting can often be challenging, whereas online voting offers an immediate impact on participation.
With an online voting solution in place, voters or meeting attendees can cast ballots conveniently from any location, at any time, on their preferred personal devices. Voters with disabilities will also appreciate an online platform that they can use with their personal adaptive equipment, ensuring everyone has equal access to participatory processes.
Sustainable Resource Use
Printing and distributing ballots, materials, and information for every election or meeting is not only complicated and time consuming, but also relies heavily on paper resources. A transition to an online voting solution can help universities achieve their sustainability goals and cut down on waste. This, in turn, also helps eliminate excess costs associated with paper-based voting methods.
Overall Voting Security
On top of these benefits, a proper online voting solution will also ensure that your elections and decision-making meetings are protected by advanced security measures. These include encryption and the use of digital signatures to ensure election integrity and voter privacy, as well as voting receipts that allow participants to verify that their votes were cast and counted correctly.
Learn more about the security requirements for online voting here.
Universities stand to gain a lot by implementing online voting in both elections and meetings. From simplifying the most complicated of events, to increasing participation and overall sustainability, an online voting channel helps modernize universities’ decision-making processes.
