Electronic Elections continue to build member response and save money for USA Branch

In 2010 the USA Branch conducted the first Branch election using an all-electronic balloting process. The percentage of responses from the membership was approximately equal to the results that had been obtained previously with mail in ballots. The cost of the electronic election software purchased from Balloteer (www.balloteer.com) was $79.95 USD for up to 5000 ballots. We utilized members’ email addresses to provide the internet link to the ballot and for reminders to vote, saving the cost of postage for both the ballot and the reminders.

The Branch has just completed the 4th election of officers, plus one By–Laws change vote utilizing the Balloteer software package. The percentage of members voting continues to increase with each election. During the most recent election, conducted in August, in addition to the announcement with the link to vote, we sent 3 reminders to the members, obtaining additional responses with each reminder. The direct savings to the branch on mailing costs was over $900 USD. Upon completion of voting, the members received the following message:

Thank you for taking the time to participate in your 2014 IFE USA Branch election. Please save the date for the 2015 AGM meeting and conference Monday March 16th 2015 Orlando, FL held with the CPSE Annual Conference. Follow us on Twitter @IFEUSABranch

The process has also allowed us to compress the time frame for conducting the election. The software package provides reports which can be emailed or printed with the complete results of the election.

To date we have not utilized all of the features available in the package instead opting to use the basic features. A copy of our most recent ballot is attached. The company offers additional services to build the ballot, send reminders or even conduct the entire election process, all for additional fees of course. Online or telephone assistance is also available.