In recent years, we do a lot of things online: shopping, researching, reading; you name it, everything can be done with just a few clicks of the computer. And yes, even online voting tool regardless of the organization you belong, online voting carries out huge benefits to your group.
The following are the advantages of online voting tools:
You can vote anytime, anywhere with online voting.
Everybody these days don't have the luxury of time to do everything or go anywhere. Thus, wouldn't it be a great thought to get your organization and business members to do the voting in as little as a few minutes, minus the need to show up to certain voting places? Contrary to conventional voting where voters are required to report in a particular voting place at a specified time, online voting gives them the freedom to choose where and when they want to vote.
It encourages participation.
This is particularly helpful when you run a business with a number of team members in it. Online voting encourages participation. But what happens in case some of your members cannot vote online? Does that mean their votes will no longer be relevant? Thankfully, there are providers today with hybrid online voting tools wherein voters can either participate in an election either online or in the traditional way.
Minimal Physical Infrastructure.
Traditional voting entails a lot of physical infrastructures. Papers, printers, voting staff, among others, are necessary. But with online voting, you don't need all these things, therefore, your monetary investment is significantly lowered.
Richer Ballots.
Because of image rendering, power linking, and other modern digital approaches, online voting allows you to add interesting details to the ballots; something that you can never is on the conventional ones. For example, you can link visual presentations and videos to different candidates, present graphic shows, or provide detailed articles. All these, and more, can be done to achieve richer ballots. Your possibilities are practically endless.
Faster and easier tallying of votes.
Tallying online votes are done by machines. Thus, there is no room for human counting errors. They run faster and are more reliable than the tallying normally carried out by people.
While there are a handful of reasons why e-voting is a good choice, you need to step back and consider the pros and cons of this online voting system; keeping in mind the particularities and needs of your business. If you believe this can improve your organization, then there's no reason why you shouldn't try online voting.
Once you have decided the online voting is beneficial for your business, it's time to evaluate the proper online voting software you can incorporate with your electoral process. Today, there are different online voting tools in the market ranging from the basic doodle polls to the more intensive and comprehensive tools that guarantee anonymity. So that you will have the best choice for your election, here are some key factors you have to be wary about.
Security. This is the most crucial consideration when conducting online voting. Although this will generally differ based on the needs of your team, it is imperative to go for tools that will preserve the confidentiality of the voter's votes. Secure voting is critical. From the voting methods to the systems and software used, the whole point is to protect the voting from disruption and fraud. This is actually a question of integrity and success.
A secure voting system means that you fully trust that the election results are correct and fair. Main threats like manipulation, intrusion, and hacking are already nipped on the bud even before they disrupt the whole voting system.
Technical Support. When you look for the online voting system provider for your electoral process, consider the technical support that the supplier offers. Running online voting is very challenging but if you know you have the right technical team to back you up, then you're safe. Knowing that you have the proper technical support to help you in the whole electoral process lessens your worries. Whether you are running a small voting process or conducting a whole election of your organization, never forget to take into consideration to have the right technical team.
User Experience. Go for voting tools that you are comfortable with. Understanding how the tool works is another significant thing you need to consider. Ideally, go for tools that you can easily navigate especially if you lack the technical know-how. Going for complex tools you are not adept at using might lead to problems in the long run. You can find different online voting software that allows you to do free trials. Take advantage of those and make a trial test election and evaluate whether the software fulfills all your expectations.
Census Management. The online voting system should also have proper census management. Go for tools that allow you to add various census information suitable to your needs, although this will greatly depend on the size of your voting population. It would be good if you run an election with around 50 voters or less since you can easily add their data one at a time. But what if you have a larger organization, say around 2000 people?
Voter Authentication. Reliable voting solutions must have a specific way of unequivocally authenticating each voter. There are tools where voters can authenticate themselves via a unique code directed to their SMS or email.
Tool Reputation. Look at the past elections that a provider has run. This will give you a full grasp of how reliable the provider is. Tools used by bigger public organizations or those utilized by huge electoral processes are probably the most trusted ones.
Online voting has generally revolutionized the way people cast their votes. While your options are so many when choosing which voting tool is ideal for your business, it always pays to do your research first. Know your options, narrow down your choices, ask around, and do some background checking.
