How Co-Ops Can Increase Voter Participation Rates
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Your cooperative needs members to vote in elections in order to evolve and achieve your democratic mission. But, do you often struggle getting members to vote in your elections. How can you change this?
Make voting convenient for your members. Here’s how:
Give members the option to vote online
While some members prefer traditional paper ballots, many are now clamoring for the ability to cast their ballots quickly and efficiently online using a laptop or mobile devices. Go where your member voters are – they’re online.
Reduce the login frustration
How many passwords do you need to remember each day? And how many do you forget each day? Single Sign-On (SSO) authenticates your eligible member voters with just one simple step so they can vote right from your cooperative’s website. No more calls to a help desk, no “password fatigue.”
The idea is so innovative and popular that National Information Solutions Cooperative (NISC) partnered with SBS to improve cooperative elections with easy, secure voting. Cooperatives that utilize both SBS and NISC solutions have the ability to provide members a simple way to log into Smarthub® Web and access their ballot.
“Our successful merger vote can be directly attributed to our cooperative’s communications plan and the new partnership with Survey & Ballot Systems and NISC that allowed fast, easy electronic and paper balloting to our individual cooperative memberships,” said Brian Krambeer, president and CEO of MiEnergy Cooperative, who recently held a merger vote. “We achieved over 60 percent member participation in our vote using this new format.”
Following the vote, members were surveyed and 95 percent were satisfied or very satisfied with the new, convenient voting process.
Provide a safe space
Your cooperative’s website is a secure, familiar place for members. SSO allows you to promote your website, offer voting with speed and convenience, eliminate barriers to participation and increase voter turnout in elections.
Learn more about SSO and other participation methods that can increase participation by contacting us today.
SmartHub® is a registered trademark of National Information Solutions Cooperative in the United States and/or other countries.
Since joining SBS in 2011, Tony has led company communications, branding, and product launches, maintaining SBS as the go-to for governance solutions. He regularly hosts educational webinars and speaks at national trade association events across the United States. Tony’s expertise has earned him media recognition, with features in outlets like Rural Electric Magazine, The Association Adviser podcast, Associations Now, and NBC’s King 5 Mornings in Seattle.