ElectionChamp
Online Voting for Cooperatives & Credit Unions
Run board elections, bylaw votes, and member resolutions online. One member, one vote: encrypted, anonymous, and fully auditable. Built for the cooperative principle of democratic member control.
Member Elections Shouldn't Be Your Biggest Operational Headache
Democratic governance is core to the cooperative model. But running a credible election across thousands of members shouldn't consume weeks of staff time and five figures of your budget.
Chronically Low Turnout
Annual meetings draw a fraction of your membership. When board elections are tied to in-person attendance or mailed ballots, you're making decisions with a small share of your members, hardly a democratic mandate.
Mailed Ballots Are Expensive
Printing, postage, return envelopes, and manual processing for thousands of members adds up fast. A single mailed election can cost more than your board's entire annual meeting budget.
Regulatory Scrutiny
Credit unions face NCUA oversight. Electric co-ops answer to state regulators. Housing co-ops have legal governance requirements. Your election process needs to withstand scrutiny, not just "work well enough."
Your members deserve a modern, accessible vote.
ElectionChamp handles the voting, counting and audit-ready documentation, and reminders take one click, at a fraction of the cost of mailed ballots.
Start Your Free ElectionEvery Vote Your Cooperative Needs to Take
From annual board elections to merger votes, ElectionChamp supports every type of cooperative and credit union member vote.
Board of Directors Elections
Elect board members with confidence. Support for district seats, at-large positions, candidate bios, and automatic result calculation. One member, one vote, enforced by the platform.
- Annual board elections
- District representative seats
- Unexpired term replacements
Bylaw & Charter Amendments
Put proposed amendments in front of your full membership. Present exact language, collect votes, and document the outcome for your governance records and regulatory filings.
- Bylaw amendments
- Charter revisions
- Governance policy changes
Merger & Acquisition Votes
When your cooperative considers a merger, acquisition, or dissolution, get formal member approval with a fully documented, auditable vote.
- Credit union mergers
- Cooperative consolidations
- Dissolution votes
Budget & Capital Approvals
Get member approval for annual budgets, capital expenditures, rate changes, and special assessments. Clear documentation for your board, auditors, and regulators.
- Annual operating budget
- Capital improvement projects
- Rate or assessment changes
Member Surveys & Resolutions
Gauge member sentiment on strategic direction, services, new products, or proposed resolutions. Data-backed decisions build member trust and demonstrate responsiveness.
- Member satisfaction surveys
- Service priority rankings
- Member-submitted resolutions
Nominating & Committee Votes
Run nominating committee elections, supervisory committee selections, and any other votes your bylaws require. Each with its own voter list and ballot configuration.
- Nominating committee elections
- Supervisory committee votes
- Credit committee selections
Set up your cooperative election in 5 steps
No software to install. Voters need no account. Most organizers finish in about 10 minutes.
Start
Name your election, pick when voting opens and closes, and add your logo. Choose how voters get their key: by email, by text message or handed out.
Ballot
Add each question or position and its candidates or options. Choose how members vote, and check the live preview of what they will see. Board seats, a bylaw amendment or a merger vote.
Voters
Paste your member list from a spreadsheet or upload a CSV. Each voter gets a private key. Add a weight column if some votes count more.
Invitations
The email and text message are written for you. Change the wording if you like, and email yourself a test.
Launch
Check the summary and launch. Up to 20 voters is free, and larger elections pay once, at launch.
After launch
Members vote from any device. Watch turnout, send a reminder to those who haven't voted, and share the results when voting closes.
Features Cooperative Leaders Actually Need
Democratic governance is the foundation of the cooperative model. These features ensure your elections uphold that principle with integrity.
One Member, One Vote, Enforced
Every member gets a unique 16-character voter key. One key, one ballot, no exceptions. The cooperative principle of democratic member control, enforced by single-use keys, not the honor system.
Learn more about One Member, One Vote, EnforcedAudit-Ready Documentation
A timestamped record of when voting opened and closed, every ballot submitted (never who cast it), and every reminder and resend. Exportable for your board, auditors, NCUA examiners, state regulators, and any governance review. Defensible documentation, not a box of paper ballots.
Learn more about Audit-Ready DocumentationVote From Any Device
Members vote from their phone, tablet, or computer. No app to download, no account to create. Reach every member, not just the ones who attend the annual meeting.
Learn more about Vote From Any DeviceOne-Click Reminders
Send a reminder by email or text to every member who hasn't voted, straight from your dashboard, with no follow-up calls or mailings. Free elections include 1 reminder, and paid elections up to 5, one every 24 hours.
Learn more about One-Click RemindersInstant Results & Reports
Results calculated automatically when voting closes. Detailed reports with vote breakdowns, participation rates, and exportable data for your board packet and regulatory filings.
Learn more about Instant Results & ReportsMultiple Voting Methods
Plurality, ranked choice, cumulative, yes/no and write-in nominations. Use different methods for different ballot items in the same election: board seats by plurality, bylaws by yes/no.
Learn more about Multiple Voting MethodsWhy Cooperatives Choose ElectionChamp
Cooperatives exist because of democratic member control. ElectionChamp makes that principle practical, giving every member an equal, accessible, and secure way to participate in governance, regardless of where they live or whether they can attend a meeting.
- One member, one vote, enforced by single-use keys
- Audit-ready reports for NCUA, state regulators, and your board
- Reach all members, not just the few who attend the annual meeting
- A fraction of the cost of printing and mailing ballots to thousands of members
- Managed election service available: we handle the entire process for you
A Professional Ballot Members Can Trust
Clean, clear, and secure. Members tap the personal link in their email or text. Their voter key is built into it, so the ballot opens with nothing to type. They see a professional ballot with candidate information and proposals, make their selections, and submit from any device. Members given a key by hand can instead go to the vote page and enter their 16-character voter key.
Whether your members are across town or across the state, they get the same simple, secure voting experience. No special software, no account required.
See the Full Voter ExperiencePricing That Makes Sense at Scale
Compare ElectionChamp to the cost of printing and mailing ballots to your entire membership. A 5,000-member cooperative election costs approximately $250, a fraction of what you'd spend on postage alone. No annual contracts, no subscription fees.
Ready to Modernize Your Cooperative Elections?
Join cooperatives and credit unions that have moved from mailed ballots to secure online voting.
Cooperative Voting Questions
NCUA regulations permit electronic voting for credit union elections, provided the process ensures one member, one vote; ballot secrecy; proper notice; and adequate documentation. ElectionChamp covers the voting itself: unique voter keys, encrypted secret ballots, invitations sent automatically when voting opens, and a complete audit trail. Giving notice of the election is up to you. We recommend confirming with your NCUA examiner and reviewing your specific bylaws, as requirements can vary.
One member, one vote is the default, and it is enforced by the platform. If your bylaws weight votes (for example by shares or patronage), turn on Weighted ballots in the Start step and give each member a whole number in the Weight column. Weighted voting works with every voting method, is included on every plan, and results show weighted totals. Decimal weights are not supported.
Yes. Many cooperatives open online voting a week or two before the annual meeting, then close it at the meeting itself. Members who attend in person and haven't yet voted can vote on their phones at the meeting. This hybrid approach maximizes participation: you get the accessibility of online voting and the community of an in-person event.
Yes. ElectionChamp is built to handle elections of any size. Upload your full membership list, and each member gets a unique voter key. The platform handles the invitations, voting, and result calculation at scale. A 25,000-member election would cost approximately $1,250 ($10 base + $0.05 × 24,800 members above 200). Compare that to the cost of mailing 25,000 ballots with return envelopes.
Yes. You control exactly who receives a voter key by managing your voter list. For district-specific board seats, upload only the members in that district. For cooperative-wide votes, upload the full membership. You can run multiple simultaneous elections with different voter lists: district races for specific members, bylaw amendments for everyone.
ElectionChamp works for all types of cooperatives: credit unions, electric cooperatives, agricultural co-ops, housing cooperatives, food co-ops, worker cooperatives, and consumer cooperatives. The platform is flexible enough to accommodate the specific governance requirements of each type, from NCUA-regulated credit unions to state-chartered electric co-ops.
You paste or upload your current membership list, and only members on it get a voter key. Each key is unique and works once. You control who is eligible: you can change the list until you launch, and spare keys set aside before launch let you add late members while voting is open. Former members, non-members, and ineligible accounts never get voting access.
Yes. Each candidate can have a photo and a bio with their statement, qualifications and professional background. Members open it with View Information right on the ballot, so there's no separate mailer or website. Many cooperatives find this improves member decision-making compared to paper ballots with names only.
Yes. Our managed elections service means our team handles everything: setup, voter list upload, ballot configuration, launch, monitoring, and result delivery. You approve the ballot and we handle the rest. This is especially popular with larger cooperatives and credit unions that want to completely offload election logistics from their staff. Learn more about managed elections.
Not a Cooperative? We've Got You Covered
Run Your Next Member Election Like a Champ
Set up in minutes. Free for up to 20 voters. No credit card required.
Questions? support@electionchamp.com