How to send voting links by email or SMS

Choose how voters get their keys

Each voter on your list gets a unique, single-use 16-digit key. The notification method decides how that key reaches them. You set it in step 2 of the setup wizard, Security and settings, and you must pick at least one.

Voters open the link in a browser on a phone, tablet or computer. There is no app to install and no account to create.

Set up email and SMS voting links

1. In step 2, Security and settings, turn on Email, SMS or both.
2. In step 4, Voter list, upload a CSV or Excel file or type voters into the grid. Include an email column for email and a phone column for SMS.
3. In step 5, Notification templates, edit the messages. Email supports Markdown. Keep the #ballot-link# tag in the email and the #mobile-ballot-link# tag in the SMS so each message carries the voter's link.
4. In step 6, Review and launch, go through the checklist and select Submit Election. Keys are generated, messages are queued, and the election opens at your start time.

Our voter notifications page lists every template tag.

Print manual keys for paper or in-person voting

Choose Manual when some members have no email or phone number on file, or when you hand out keys at a meeting. The system generates a unique 16-digit key for each voter. You download the keys and distribute them by print, mail or in person.

A voter with a printed key has two ways in. They can scan the key with their phone camera, or go to app.electionchamp.com/vote/ and type the 16 digits. Treat printed keys like paper ballots and hand them over one to one, because whoever holds a key can use it.

Mix email, SMS and printed keys in one election

You can turn on more than one method in the same election. Each voter still has a single key, and that key stops working the moment their ballot is submitted. Online votes and printed-key votes are tracked in one place.

There is no per-message SMS fee. The only cost is the per-voter capacity price on our pricing page, and every delivery method is included on every plan.

If a voter cannot find their link

Ask them to check their spam or junk folder first. Corporate filters sometimes hold election email. From the Voters tab you can resend their link, and Resend sends the same key again. Our guide to reminders and resending walks through it, and voters can follow how to vote.