Go From Paper to Portals With Digital Nomination Platforms

Last Updated on April 16, 2025 by Hannah Seeley

While some members of your organization might prefer the old-fashioned ways of submitting nominations and petitions by paper and snail mail, digital platforms are changing the game for member organizations. Managing nominations, petitions, and voting is no longer a paper-heavy, time-consuming process. Thanks to advancements in digital nomination platforms, organizations of all sizes can now run secure, efficient, and member-friendly elections from start to finish.

Not only do digital platforms encourage member participation, but they also make the process pain-free for your staff. With this approach, you can reduce administrative workload and ensure complete compliance with your bylaws – all while boosting member engagement.

Tools like online petition platforms make gathering support and verifying signatures seamless. Still, making the switch can feel daunting, especially if your organization currently relies on paper-based processes. In this guide, you’ll learn how digital nomination platforms work and why they’re such a game-changer. You’ll also learn four helpful best practices for implementing a digital voting system in your organization without the growing pains.

How Do Digital Voting Systems Work?

Tools like online candidate applications simplify the digital election process with features for secure voting, nominations, petitions, and everything in between. Digitizing every stage of the process allows you to plan smoother, more efficient voting that supports democracy in your organization.

Digital nomination platforms streamline the candidate nomination process by allowing candidates to submit their information electronically, reducing paperwork and expediting approvals.​ There’s no need for your staff to spend hours verifying their eligibility or manually processing paperwork.

Digital nomination platforms also allow candidates to submit documents, supporting materials, and other data. This new approach streamlines the submission process for candidates while reducing administrative burden – it’s a true win-win. Plus, digital petitions are much easier to share via email, social media, or a website. Signatories can quickly sign petitions using electronic signatures, often with a swipe of a finger.

Digital nomination and petition solutions aren’t just a nice-to-have. These technologies are having a real impact on organizations across the nation. For example, the Tucson Federal Credit Union faced challenges reaching its multigenerational audience effectively. SBS gave the credit union a turnkey solution that supported hybrid elections, allowing it to reach voters with different communication preferences. In 2017, the credit union added digital nominations and petitions, which encouraged more members to run for board seats.

What Are the Benefits of Digital Nomination Platforms?

Switching from paper-based processes to a digital-first platform might sound overwhelming, but the benefits are too good to overlook. Digital nomination tools streamline the entire election process, offering key benefits like:

• Faster timelines: There’s no need for manual paperwork with digital nominations and petitions. Digitizing everything allows candidates to quickly upload their applications for faster processing. It’s also less work for administrators to review and approve these submissions, allowing them to share candidate information with voters much sooner.
• Resource maximization: Paper-based voting has its place, but it requires additional time for printing and mailing materials. Digital nomination and petition software allows organizations to route more resources to voter education and member engagement, making the most of their time and budget.
• Better accuracy: Human error happens with manual nominations and petitions. Still, honest mistakes could hurt the democratic process or even put your organization at risk of falling out of compliance. Going digital reduces data entry and interpretation errors, ensuring you share candidate information consistently and accurately.
• Strict security: Some organizations hesitate to use online petition tools because they worry about security. But going digital is actually much more secure. Working with a security-minded team like Survey & Ballot Systems, which complies with SOC 2 and many other security frameworks, ensures compliance and safety at every stage of the election process.
• Boost accessibility: Paper-based processes are great for reaching members who might not have access to the internet or smartphones. However, digital nomination platforms can also reduce inequalities and accessibility challenges, which is a must for giving all members a voice.

4 Best Practices for Implementing Digital Nomination Systems

Successfully transitioning to digital systems requires careful planning, robust infrastructure, and thoughtful communication. Follow these best practices to embrace a digital nomination system in your organization.

Opt for a Secure Online Portal

Leverage digital nomination solutions to reduce administrative burden and eliminate paperwork during election season. These platforms simplify candidate submissions and make the process accessible to a broader pool of candidates. Not only that, but solutions like ours offer user-friendly portals that are accessible from any device, improving member access to real-time, on-the-go voting with industry-leading security.

For example, candidates sign up through the digital nomination platform and receive a shareable link to their online petition. This allows them to collect support digitally, streamlining what used to be a time-consuming, manual process. The online petition tool supports real-time verification of eligibility and signature count. Instead of waiting until the deadline, election admins can proactively review petitions and alert candidates if they need to collect more signatures.

Invest in Change Management

Digital platforms all have a learning curve. While some of your members might be digital natives, others may struggle to get the hang of new technology. Keep members updated on the changes you’re making and why. Lean into the benefits a digital nomination system (as part of a digital voting system) will offer the organization, whether in terms of efficiency, time saved, or cost reductions.

Consider offering step-by-step guides for voters, candidates, and administrators on the new system. Make these resources available to all stakeholders so they can reference them if they need a refresher on the new system. Technical issues can also happen, which is why it’s important to work with a provider like SBS that will help you solve any issues ASAP. Our team is always on standby if you need help with strategy, implementation, and everything in between.

Customize as Much as Possible

One of the biggest advantages of using digital nomination platforms is the ability to tailor every aspect of the process to fit your organization’s unique needs.

From nomination to petition collection, customizable forms and workflows ensure a positive member and candidate experience. With the right election management software, you can:

• Tailor nomination forms to reflect your organization’s specific bylaws, eligibility criteria, and signature thresholds
• Build workflows that guide users through each step, which minimizes confusion and reduces support requests
• Customize petition text, input fields, and branding elements, including logos, headers, and instructional copy
• Set rules that ensure only eligible members can sign online petitions and validate them in real-time
• Control submission deadlines and reminders to keep candidates on track

Engage With Members

The great thing about nomination management software is that it frees your staff from spending time on low-value tasks. Instead of spending hours processing paperwork, your team can brainstorm new ways to get members excited about the election process. Route your resources to marketing, member outreach, engagement surveys, and data analysis to encourage members to participate in the democratic process. Not only is this crucial for encouraging participation in future elections, but voter outreach also increases retention and trust.

Digital Tools, Real Results

Thankfully, digital nomination platforms are making inefficient paper processes a thing of the past. Organizations can boost participation, ensure compliance, and make governance more inclusive and efficient by streamlining digital election processes and leveraging intuitive digital voting systems.

The right digital tools remove barriers, remove annoying administrative tasks, and encourage your members to get involved. Switching voting systems doesn’t have to be a hassle, either. Survey & Ballot Systems not only provides an all-in-one election management platform, but we also offer much-needed one-on-one help to make your nominations, petitions, and elections as smooth as possible.

Now’s the time to go digital. Contact SBS to learn how to create a customized digital nomination platform just for your organization.