Create a New Ballot

Use this form to create a new group ballot. Note: You must have Ballot Manage privileges to create a new ballot.

Note: A group member's voting eligibility is assigned by the group Chair or other group member with Roster Manage privileges. See Change Group Member Role for more information.

To create a new ballot:

  1. From All Groups, click the name of the group for which you want to create a new ballot. This takes you to the home page for that group.
  2. Click the Ballots tab. This takes you to the Group Ballots page for that group. (You can also click Add next to the Recent Ballots heading to go directly to the Add Ballot page.)
  3. Click Add New Ballot. This takes you to the Add Ballot page.
  4. For Title, enter the title for your ballot. For example, "Spring Conference Venue". Up to 100 characters are allowed (all types). However, HTML is not allowed.
  5. For Description/Question, enter the text of your ballot. All characters are allowed, with no maximum limit. However, HTML is not allowed. Note: You may amend the ballot before it closes by appending text to the ballot description. See Modify a Ballot for more information.
  6. For Ballot Options Presented to Voters, choose Yes, No; Yes, No, Abstain; or Custom Options.
  7. If you select Yes, No with comment or Yes, No with comment, Abstain, go to Step 9 below.
  8. If you select Custom Options, select how many options should each voter select, either exactly or up to a designated number of options. Then you must define the list of options in the option list text boxes. There is no limit to the number of options on a ballot. All characters are allowed; however, HTML is not allowed.
  9. For Ballot Opening Date, select the date and time you want the ballot to open. All eligible voters will receive an email notification of the ballot on this date. The default is today's date and time.
  10.  For Ballot Closing Date, select the date and time you want the ballot to close. Votes cannot be cast after this date and time.
  11. For Time Zone, choose the Time Zone that will be used to schedule the open, close, and reminder times.
  12. For Who Can Vote?, select who you want to vote on your ballot. If your group tracks meeting attendance, you can also filter the the list of eligible voters using Meeting Attendance Rules. Note: The list of eligible voters is created once the ballot is added. If you select "Voting members only" and a group member's role is modified while a ballot is open so that he/she is now a voting member, that member does not become immediately eligible to vote on that ballot, but they can be added to the list of eligible voters by a ballot manager. If you select "Voting members only" and a group member's voting eligibility is revoked while a ballot is open and he/she has already cast his/her vote, that vote is retained.
  13. For Require Comment?, you may choose to require a comment when voting No or Abstain.
  14. For Allow voter to specify "other"?, select whether voters may write in a vote (in other words, vote for an option that is not listed with the ballot).
  15. For Meeting Attendance Rules, if you use the checkbox, your set of eligible voters will be filtered based on meeting attendance. An editable list of eligible voters will be shown on the next page of the Create a New Ballot form.
  16. Results Sharing - Select who you want to view the results, when ballot results should be shown, and how the ballot results should display. For What type of results should be made available?, select "Show a detailed list of voters and their votes" to see exactly who voted for each options and all comments associated with their votes. To see a simple summary, for example 3 votes for option a, 5 for option b, select "Just show a summary of the results.
  17. For Can voters change their vote?, select whether you want to let voters vote as many times as they want before the ballot closes. This is especially helpful if the ballot is amended, since it allows the voters to change their votes after considering the amendment.
  18. For Email Notifications, check the box to send email to voters about this ballot when it opens and closes. If you would like a reminder sent to all eligible voters who have not voted by a specific date, check "Send a reminder to eligible voters..." and select the date and time here.

Advanced Options

  1. For References, select existing or create new items to associate with the event. Note: Referenced items are optional when adding a new event.
  2. The Existing References section contains a list of items (document, Internet address, and so on) to associate with the event. The default is none. This section is populated by selecting items from the Create References section and clicking Add More>>. Note: Items on this list can be added and removed multiple times and are not associated with the event until the event itself is added by clicking Add New Event.
  3. For Create a new document/link, optionally enter the complete path or browse for a new document to upload to associate with the event and/or type in an Internet address (link) to associate with the event (for example, http://www.myorg.org/reference_link.html).
  4. For State, select the state of the document/link (draft, final, and so on).
  5. For Folder, select the Group document folder into which you want to add the new document/link.
  6. For Reference Type, select the kind of document/link. Note: The State, Folder, and Reference Type selected apply to both the new document and Internet address. If the event is added, the new document/link will appear in the sponsoring Group's document list in the specified folder.
  7. For Select an existing document/link, the top drop-down list contains all Group documents and links uploaded within the last month. The default is None; select one by clicking its name. Define its reference type by selecting an option from the Reference Type drop-down list (for example, Reference Document, Agenda, Minutes, and so on).
    • To update the list using another time frame (for example, documents uploaded within the last one week, two weeks, and so on), select the desired time frame from the drop-down list and click Update Existing Document List. The top drop-down list is updated; select a document or link by clicking its name.
  8. When you are finished making selections in the Create a new document/link and Select an existing document/link sections, click Add More Reference Items >>. The referenced items now appear in the Existing References section. To add more items, continue selecting references and clicking Add More Reference Items >>. To remove an item from the Existing References list, click Remove Reference next to the item you want to remove. Note: If a document is associated with an event, that event displays as a Referenced Item on that document's Details page.
  9. When you finish, click Continue to see the ballot before you create it or Cancel to return to the Group Ballots page without previewing the ballot. Note: Required fields are designated by an asterisk (*). If you click Continue and a required field is left blank, an error message appears in red next to the blank field heading. Enter the required information and click Continue again.

If you click Continue, you go to the Ballot Preview page where you can review your ballot before creating it.

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