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Author: Brian Lack

COVID-19 and Simply Voting

Posted on by Brian Lack

As the world continues to adapt to the COVID–19 pandemic, many organizations, companies, and institutions are re-evaluating the way they interact with one another and conduct their day-to-day business. Fortunately the impact of COVID-19 on Simply Voting has been relatively mild.

Demand for internet elections remains strong – in fact, stronger than ever due to a shift from in-person voting to remote voting due to social isolation measures. Our workforce is already equipped for and accustomed to telecommuting which, despite our beautiful office space, has always been a big part of our corporate culture. The data centres and other technical infrastructures of our voting system continue to perform at full service levels.

To prevent spread of the virus and safeguard Simply Voting’s operations we’ve taken a number of steps including:

  • Requiring all employees to telecommute except for a rotating skeleton staff at our office space.
  • Limiting non-essential business travel and using collaboration tools to conduct virtual meetings with our customers, partners and employees.
  • Ensuring that employees have flexible working arrangements and access to childcare to remain productive throughout school closures.
  • Following best practices recommended by local and international public-health authorities for safety and sanitizing procedures.
  • Closely monitoring our vendors and suppliers to minimize potential upstream risks to our service levels.

We wish to reassure our customers and those who are now seeking online voting services, that we are operating at full capacity and do not anticipate any disruption in our ability to deliver service throughout a prolonged pandemic environment. Simply Voting stands ready to ensure that e-democracy continues in these difficult and trying times.

Data Encryption At Rest

Posted on by Brian Lack

When it comes to protecting data, two important areas to focus on are encryption in transit and encryption at rest.

Encryption in transit involves encrypting data while it’s being transferred, so that it cannot be intercepted as it travels from point A to point B. Communication between the voting system and the browsers of voters, election organizers, and Simply Voting staff has always been encrypted at all times to protect against attacks using strong protocols and ciphers. This is best practice for encryption in transit.

Encryption at rest involves encrypting data where it is stored, so that it cannot be used by an attacker that gains access to it.

The most sensitive information – passwords and votes – have always been encrypted by Simply Voting prior to being stored in the voting system’s database. This is an added layer of security to protect against a breach of the database.

Thanks to a recent upgrade of our database software, all data is now encrypted by the database engine before it is saved using a technology called Transparent Data Encryption. Not just passwords and votes but also elector information, candidate details, customer information, etc.. This is done using industry standard AES-256 encryption, and it applies to older data as well as new data moving forward. This technology provides an added layer of security to protect against unauthorized access to the storage used by the database.

Bottom line, Simply Voting is always working on better ways to protect our customers and their data.

2019 Holiday Schedule

Posted on by Brian Lack

Happy Holidays 2019 everyone! Please note that our office will be closed from December 23, 2019 until January 3, 2020.

Skeleton staff will be available to support ongoing elections. If you require emergency support during this time please fill out the support form on our website. Set the priority to “emergency”, and someone will follow up with you shortly. You can also use our help portal!

As we wrap up another fantastic year, we want to express our heartfelt gratitude to all our customers and partners for their continued trust and support. 2019 has been an incredible journey, and we’re excited to continue providing you with reliable and innovative election solutions in 2020. May your holidays be filled with joy, relaxation, and memorable moments with your loved ones. Thank you for choosing Simply Voting. We look forward to serving you in the year ahead!

During the holiday season, we also take a moment to reflect on the milestones we’ve achieved together. From helping organizations run secure and transparent elections to building lasting relationships with our clients, we’re proud of the impact we’ve made in 2019. Your feedback, collaboration, and trust have been invaluable in driving us forward, and we’re excited to embark on new projects and challenges with you in the upcoming year. Here’s to a successful and prosperous 2020 for all!

Wishing all our customers and partners a wonderful holiday season, and we’ll see you in the New Year!

 

Account Recovery and Password Resets

Posted on by Brian Lack

Now, account recovery and password resets are available on the Election Manager login page.

E-democracy and elections are often some of the most important activities an organization undertakes internally, and our mission at Simply Voting has always been to help ensure our customers protect their critical projects. To this end, we’ve recently rolled out an improvement to customer account security.

As you may have seen already over the past couple of weeks, or will see upon your next account login, you will be prompted to complete Security Questions and Answers.

The Security Questions and Answers tool joins our other newly improved Account Recovery and Password Reset tools for customer accounts. You will find these new tools located on the Election Manager login page, as shown below and highlighted in orange. Now if your forget your Voting Website login, you can recover your account by clicking on the appropriate link. And if you forget your Password you can similarly reset your password without going through Simply Voting staff by answering your security questions. If you are ever locked out of your account or have any issues, our Support Department is always just an email or phone call away!

The Account Security section inside of the Election Manager tool, on the Settings page, is also where you can update your password or adjust security questions as necessary, such as during the transition of account ownership from one election official to another election official from your organization if you have periodic staffing changes.

A step-by-step walk through for recovering your account or resetting your account’s password can be found inside our Help Portal as well.

And as always, don’t hesitate to reach out to our Support Department if you have any questions or concerns about this enhancement, or anything else with which we might be able to assist!

Integration with Jonas

Posted on by Brian Lack

Emails, no more! Simply Voting has finalized the integration with Jonas Club Software and GGA Partners to make voting easier for your members. Private clubs that avail themselves of an election expertly managed by GGA Partners can now choose to integrate voter authentication with Jonas Club Software.

Club members can now log in to access their electronic ballot using the credentials they already use to log into your club website. No more letters or emails, you (the election administrator) determine which members can vote, and we activate Single Sign On authentication. Voters simply go to your voting website, click login, and enter the username and password they already use to log into your members only portal.

Jonas Club Software helps clubs thrive by focusing on the creation of exceptional experiences. These experiences are delivered through industry leading services, integrated applications, innovative technology, and long term partnerships with the clubs we serve.

GGA Partners is an international consulting firm and trusted advisor to many of the world’s most successful golf courses, private clubs, resorts and residential communities. They are dedicated to helping owners, asset managers, club and community leaders, investors and real estate developers tackle challenges, achieve objectives and maximize asset performance. Established in 1992 as the KPMG Golf Industry Practice, their global team of experienced professionals leverage in-depth business intelligence and proprietary global data to deliver impactful strategic solutions and lasting success.

Simply Voting is committed to making voting easy and accessible. Contact us or GGA Partners to discuss your next election and see if an SSO integration is right for you.

Realtor Association Elections Made Simple: Nova Scotia Case Study

Posted on by Brian Lack

The Nova Scotia Association of REALTORS Case Study is a demonstration of how innovative strategies and solutions were implemented to enhance operational efficiency, and drive success within the real estate industry.

Real estate is a booming industry creating headlines across Canada. But as hard as real estate agents are working to build our economies, they are also engaged deeply on a regional level, subscribing to their local real estate associations. And like any association with a membership, they require a vote.

Two years ago, the Nova Scotia Association of REALTORS® (NSAR) were running their vote themselves. Managing 7 regions all voting at a live event, the process was cumbersome and expensive. In 2018, Simply Voting met NSAR at the Canadian Real Estate Association AGM. After discussing their current process, we designed a solution using segmentation. This segmentation allowed NSAR to run one election, with 7 regions, reducing the cost and complexity dramatically.

When the process was discussed with Roger Boutilier, NSAR CEO, he said that using Simply Voting was the simplest election process they had ever used at NSAR. It even increased member engagement in the Director election.

This Fall, NSAR and other real estate associations across North America will run their annual elections using Simply Voting. Some of them may even use one of our Single Sign On integrations to make voting easier for their members. If you’re not one of them, contact us to learn more and have a voting solution designed for you.

RIMS Roundup

Posted on by Brian Lack

In case you missed it, in April Simply Voting was in Boston at the insurance and risk management industry professionals conference. RIMS, the risk management society™ empowers risk professionals to make the world safer, more secure, and more sustainable. Through networking, professional development, certification, advocacy, and research, RIMS and its 80 chapters serves more than 200,000 risk practitioners and business leaders from over 75 countries. Founded in 1950, the Society publishes the award-winning Risk Management Magazine and produces  RISKWORLD@ the largest annual gathering of global risk professionals.

Simply Voting attended their annual convention to meet with some of these entities. How do online elections fit into risk management? Corporations and insurance captives conduct shareholder votes annually to vote in their board of directors. Some of them even collect proxies to facilitate their vote and meet quorum.

Online elections play a significant role in risk management for corporations and insurance captives during their annual shareholder voting process. Here’s how:

  1. Ensuring Compliance
    Online voting platforms help organizations comply with governance requirements by securely managing shareholder votes. They ensure transparency and accuracy in board elections, reducing the risk of disputes or regulatory non-compliance.
  2. Meeting Quorum Efficiently
    By facilitating proxy collection and remote participation, online elections help entities achieve quorum more easily. This minimizes the risk of meeting delays or cancellations that could disrupt decision-making processes.
  3. Mitigating Security Risks
    Reliable online election systems like Simply Voting provide robust security measures, such as encrypted vote storage and voter authentication, reducing the risk of fraud or unauthorized access. This protects the integrity of the election process.
  4. Reducing Operational Risks
    Online platforms streamline vote management, reducing human error associated with manual processes like paper ballot handling or tallying. Automated systems ensure accurate and efficient outcomes, minimizing potential operational disruptions.
  5. Enhancing Stakeholder Confidence
    Transparent and secure online voting increases trust among shareholders, ensuring that the voting process is fair and unbiased. This helps organizations maintain their reputation and foster stronger stakeholder relationships.

By integrating online elections into their processes, corporations and insurance captives effectively manage risks related to governance, compliance, and operational efficiency.

Sound like something you do? Contact us to learn more about the electronic voting and proxy collection solutions we have and are developing for corporations and insurance captives like you.

RIMS conference 2019

Simply Voting and YourMembership

Posted on by Brian Lack

Simply Voting is a Tech Partner with YourMembership. YourMembership, a membership management software, integrates with Simply Voting to provide seamless online voting for associations and other member-based organizations.

Simply Voting’s mandate is to make voting easier for everyone and we’re working hard on keeping our word. That’s why we’ve become one of Community Brands’ Tech Partners and with that comes some awesome integrations. Our first one is with YourMembership. If you’re a YourMembership user, you can now do three really helpful things:

  1. Your voters can log in to Simply Voting using their YM credentials. No more emails with passwords.
  2. With one click, you (the administrator) can easily pull your membership list from your YM database into Simply Voting.
  3. You can quickly see in your YM membership list if someone has voted in the most recent election. No logging into Simply Voting to verify if a ballot has been cast.

If your association uses YourMembership, contact us to setup the YM / SV integration before your next election. Not a Community Brands software user? No problem! Simply Voting can still help you set up your next election with ease.

This integration is just the beginning of our efforts to streamline and enhance the voting experience for associations and member-based organizations. By leveraging the power of technology, we aim to reduce administrative workload, eliminate voter friction, and provide greater transparency in the election process.

At Simply Voting, we’re always exploring new partnerships and innovations to ensure our platform evolves with the needs of our clients. Whether you’re using YourMembership or another membership management solution, our team is ready to assist you in creating efficient, secure, and user-friendly voting processes tailored to your organization’s unique requirements.

Clareity Single-Sign-On

Posted on by Brian Lack

Real estate professionals rejoice! Simply Voting and CoreLogic have paired up to make Clareity Single-Sign-On integrationyour next election a whole lot easier. Simply Voting’s mission is to make voting easier for everyone which is why we now have a tile on the Clareity Dashboard. No more emails with logins and passwords. Voters simply log onto their Clareity Dashboard, click on the orange checkmark, and their ballot opens.

We’re excited to announce this seamless integration between Simply Voting and CoreLogic’s Clareity Single-Sign-On, designed specifically with real estate professionals in mind. By adding Simply Voting directly to the Clareity Dashboard, we’ve eliminated the need for multiple logins and passwords. Voters can now effortlessly access their ballots with just one click—making the entire process quicker, easier, and more secure.

At Simply Voting, we understand that ease of use is critical, especially when managing elections for busy professionals. This integration is just one of the many ways we’re committed to simplifying the voting experience for our clients. Whether you’re a real estate association or another membership-based organization, we’re here to provide tailored solutions that meet your needs. Reach out to us today to learn more about this integration or to discuss how we can support your next election with other association management tools you may use. We’re here to ensure your elections are as smooth and efficient as possible!

Simply Voting is always looking for ways to make your election setup and voting experience easier and more convenient.

Contact us directly if you’d like to learn more about our Clareity Single-Sign-On integration or if you use another association management tool. And if you are already a Simply Voting customer, contact our support team and we’ll get you setup before your next election!

2018 Holiday Schedule

Posted on by Brian Lack

Happy Holidays 2018 from all of us at Simply Voting! As the year comes to a close, we want to thank our customers and partners for making this another incredible year. It’s been our privilege to support your organizations with secure, transparent, and efficient online voting solutions, and we’re proud of the role we play in helping you engage with your members and stakeholders.

Please note that our office will be closed from December 24, 2018, until January 4, 2019. During this time, a skeleton staff will be available to support ongoing elections. If you require emergency assistance, simply fill out the support form on our website, select the “emergency” priority, and someone from our team will respond as quickly as possible. You can also access resources and guidance through our help portal.

As we celebrate the holiday season, we reflect on the milestones achieved throughout the year, made possible by your continued trust and collaboration. We’re excited about what lies ahead in 2019 and look forward to partnering with you on new elections and projects. From everyone at Simply Voting, we wish you a joyful and peaceful holiday season filled with warmth, laughter, and memorable moments.

Here’s to a successful and prosperous New Year for all!