An Introduction to Online Voting Surveys 19 T

An Introduction to Online Voting/ Surveys 19 T H NOVEMBER 2015

Overview § Established in 2006 by an organisation called i. Meta Technologies Ltd § Experts in multi-channel voting (postal/ online/ mobile) § Provide electoral services to both public and private sector organisations § Over 140 clients have used our platform in the last year to run their elections

Clients

What is e-voting? • Ability to cast vote online through an internet enabled device (PC/ Tablet/ Mobile) • Instruction to vote can be distributed by post or by e-mail • Participant can only vote once • Process is typically anonymized so no personal data associated with vote cast

Its benefits… • Offers greater convenience to voter – which in turn can increase turnout • Can replace traditional means of balloting, significantly reducing costs associated with the printing, distribution and counting of postal ballots • Real time reporting on turnout provides greater understanding of organisation’s voting behaviour/ metrics

Impact of e-voting on turnout • • • On the whole e-voting generally increases turnout in a ballot Ballot distribution channel plays a major role in determining how individuals vote Notable e-voting projects • • SNP 2015 candidate selection process - in 47 elections approximately 90% of votes cast online. Largest turnout in Student Union election (MUSU) - all votes cast online Recent examples of organisations moving from purely postal ballot to multi-channel approach: CIHT - 114% increase in 2015 Election of Council (700 to 1500 votes) ICAS - 66% increase in 2015 AGM British Dressage - 630% increase in 2014 Director Elections Royal Aeronautical Society - 100% increase in Council elections Kensington & Chelsea Housing Association - 47% increase in Board Member elections e-voting not a silver bullet for increasing turnout what is being voted on, how the ballots are distributed and also reminders play significant role

Security • All websites are encrypted (https) • Registered with the Information Commissioners Office • All sensitive data stored in a secure data centre. Voting database only stores details of how a vote was cast NOT who cast it • Only authorised personnel have access to password protected data • Data provided by clients ONLY used for purposes of election • Client date deleted after election • Security codes can only be used once

Delivery of Ballots Variety of different channels • Postal • Online (via E-Mail or Post) • Mobile • SMS • Telephone • Inperson/ voting machine Most popular model in commercial elections appears to be e-mailing of ballots to all members with valid address, postal ballot sent to the remainder. Over 35% of all votes cast using Mi-Voice are through the mobile channel.

How it Works Client provides membership data in encrypted spreadsheet Membership Split by Profile Communication Member votes Received by Mi-Voice Votes collated Codes Generated Notification Online Code Checked Result declared Ballot Post Reminder Mi-Voice Support

Walkthrough

Communication

Ballot

Further Information • PDF • Text • Video

Voting Process Select Confirm Finished

Reporting – E-Mail • Hardbounces • Opens • Click throughs

Reporting - Turnout

Considerations • Data – quality of e-mail addresses • Membership – attitude towards technology/ desire to change? • Anonymity/ sensitivity of membership data and management of information • Voting process – applicability to voting online • Communication process – both from organisation and Mi-Voice • Support • Nominations

Surveys • In addition to voting, the Mi-Voice platform can be used for simple surveys • The system supports a variety of different question types • Surveys can be ‘open’ – anyone can participate or ‘secure’ – a code is required to participate

Surveys - Screenshots