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Category: Customer Stories

Over 1,000 unions chose Simply Voting for their online elections, here is why you should too

Posted on by Clémence Campillo

Unions have long been essential in advocating for workers rights. But for a union to be effective, its members need to be engaged in the decision-making process. Understanding what a union is and how they work is essential to understand the importance of online elections for unions.

What is a union?

A union is an organized group of workers who join together to protect and advance their collective interests such as attaining better wages and benefits, improving working conditions etc. Unionized workers have the ability to negotiate from a position of strength to amplify their voice and ensure their rights are respected.

Unions are democratic organizations therefore elections are extremely important, whether to elect leadership, approve contracts or make decisions on strikes on a national, provincial and local level.

In most cases these elections are secret and majority votes. Traditionally, these votes are conducted in person, at polling stations, using paper ballots during meetings.

However, these methods, often excludes a large portion of the membership due to various reasons: schedule conflicts, geographical distance or even health issues that can make in difficult to attend elections in person.

Online voting offers a simple and affordable solution to these challenges.

  • Increased participation

    Online voting allows members to vote from anywhere at any time. This flexibly allows more members to take part in the voting process, helping reach quorum more easily and making the unions decision truly representative of the entire membership. That way, important decisions can be made with a lower risk of a low turnout and procedural delays.

    • Cost and time efficient

    Traditional voting methods require time consuming preparation such as organizing meeting and polling stations as well as printing and counting ballots. Online voting eliminates all those steps and therefore reduces administrative cost and time and well as the possibility of human error in the process. It also offers quick, real-time results which accelerates the decision-making process.

    • Security and transparency

    Online voting offers strong security features, ensuring that every vote is protected and counted accurately. Each action made throughout the election process is tracked and saved in an auditable log ensuring transparency throughout the process along with trusted, legitimate results helping build trust among the union members.

    Hybrid elections

    While online voting offers great benefits, we also offer other options that can be combined with online voting still increasing participation and security as well as reducing cost.

    • Mail-in paper ballots

    In addition, to online voting it is also possible to offer electors the possibility to mail-in ballots. Simply voting will print and mail out letters with personalized voting instructions for online or mail-in ballot voting along with a return envelope and accurately process mailed-in ballots in-house

    • In person paper ballots

    If you wish to continue in-person paper ballot voting along with online voting, we also offer a voter strike-off feature to block paper ballot voters from online voting, in real-time. When a paper ballot is provided, the election official will mark the elector as voted offline so they can no longer vote online. The paper ballots will be counted independently of the online voting system according to the union’s procedures.

    • Kiosk voting

    It is possible to continue having polling stations along with online voting using our kiosk feature. These kiosks allow secure, efficient and low-maintenance voting in person for electors that prefer to vote from a polling station.

    For unions looking to increase participation, make voting more accessible and reduce cost, online voting is the next step. Whether you opt for online voting only or a hybrid solution, Simply Voting will make your election process more accessible, transparent and secured.

    Ready to make the switch to online voting?

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    Successful Online Voting Solutions for the 2024 Halifax Regional Municipal Election

    Posted on by Clémence Campillo

    Simply Voting and Intelivote powered the online voting system and managed election logistics, enabling the municipality to elect its first new mayor in over a decade.

    Internet voting was the preferred method for 62% of voters, 13% more compared to 2020.

    Montreal, Canada – November 26, 2024 – Simply Voting, in collaboration with Intelivote Systems, successfully delivered online voting solutions for the 2024 Halifax Regional Municipality Election. The innovative approach resulted in a significant increase in online voter turnout, with 69% of votes being cast digitally (internet, kiosk and telephone voting), contributing to a smooth and accessible election process.

    In a historic result, the municipality’s residents elected Andy Fillmore. He is a former MP, as its first new mayor in over a decade. Fillmore won decisively, defeating his nearest competitor by 21,000 votes. Voter engagement was at the forefront. Housing and affordability set as Fillmore’s top priorities as he prepares to take office.

    Simply Voting provided the online, kiosk and telephone voting platforms for the election. While Intelivote offered logistical support, including election project management. The advance voting election, held from October 8 to October 16. This period allowed voters to cast their ballots using a unique personal identification number via internet or phone. Paper ballots was available only on election day, October 19.

    Key Election Stats:

    • Voter turnout reached 36.8% of the 335,341 eligible voters, with 123,529 total votes cast.
    • 62% of voters chose to vote online, representing 76,386 individuals vs 32% votes by paper ballot.
    • During advanced voting 90.4% of the votes were cast online using Simply Voting’s platform.
    • With 58% of voters using desktop devices and 42% using mobile devices.
    • 5% of voters opted for telephone voting, while 2% used the kiosk voting option.
    • The voting process involved over 1,200 election workers, with months of behind-the-scenes planning.

    The success of the election was praised by Returning Officer Iain MacLean: “We are extremely satisfied with the voting solution provided by Simply Voting and Intelivote. This year’s election goal was to ensure accessibility, and the results confirm we met that objective.”

    Brian Lack, President of Simply Voting, expressed pride in the company’s contribution: “It’s incredibly gratifying to see our online voting solutions set a new record for online voter turnout. The overwhelming preference for internet voting reaffirms the importance of providing an easy-to-use, accessible platform for all voters.”

    Dean Smith, President of Intelivote Systems, also emphasized the collaboration’s success: “Intelivote Systems provided an electronic voting solution to 43 additional separate municipal elections in the province-wide 2024 Municipal Elections allowing up to 94% of all Nova Scotian electors an opportunity to vote safely and conveniently, including over 335,000 electors in HRM.  Intelivote’s evoting management with expert knowledge of Municipal Election processes, partnered with Simply Voting’s technology, allowed our clients to deliver successful and secure elections across the municipality and the province.”

    About Simply Voting Inc.
    Simply Voting Inc. is a full-service provider of secure, web-based electronic voting solutions. Over 5,000 organizations from municipalities to universities to unions rely on Simply Voting to safely manage their election. For more information, visit www.simplyvoting.com.

    About Intelivote Systems Inc.

    Intelivote is a services company which provides eDemocracy solutions to Government at all levels, hundreds of Municipalities in both Ontario and Nova Scotia, political parties, unions, associations and other National and International organizations that regularly conduct elections, surveys, referendums, plebiscites, or other events that require secure, accessible member participation. For more information, visit www.intelivote.com.

    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.

    Milestone Achieved: 2014 Ontario Municipal Elections

    Posted on by Brian Lack

    Simply Voting delivered official results last week to four municipalities after providing them with internet and telephone voting for the 2014 Ontario municipal elections.

    While these were not the largest or most complicated elections we’ve tackled, they are our first public, binding elections and therefore an important milestone that reinforces Simply Voting’s corporate profile. Especially considering that, to quote the Chief Administrative Officer of Deep River “the election went as smooth as silk“.

    A total of 25,689 eligible voters from Central Huron, Huron East, Cavan Monaghan and Deep River were able to cast ballots using any phone or web-enabled device. Each town also operated a Help Centre where voters could receive assistance and vote at a tablet or computer kiosk. Voting continued for two weeks and participation rates were similar to or higher than the previous election. Deep River in particular saw 21% more votes cast.

    Online voting performed flawlessly. “This was Central Huron’s first experience using internet and telephone voting, and the electronic voting system provided by Simply Voting was user friendly, worked exactly as promised, was well received by the electors and saved us many hours of manpower. The professionalism of this company was evident in their product and their excellent training and support services.” said Janisse Zimmerman, Clerk’s Assistant at Central Huron.

    Read the press release.