Set the voting dates and time zone

Name, organization and logo

• Election name is required, up to 60 characters. Voters see it at the top of the ballot, and the invitation email's subject is Vote in, followed by this name.
• Organization is required, up to 120 characters. On a new election it's filled in from your last election, with the note “Remembered from your last election.”
• Logo (optional) takes a PNG or JPG up to 1.5 MB. Drop it on the box, or press choose a file. Once it's in, use Replace or Remove. The logo appears on the ballot and in the invitation emails.

Choose when voting opens and closes

1. Click Voting opens and pick a date and time.
2. Click Voting closes and pick a later date and time, or press one of the Open for buttons.
3. Check the Runs line in the Your election so far panel, such as Nov 3 to Nov 10.

Open for has three buttons: 3 days, 1 week and 2 weeks. Each sets voting to close that many days after the opening date, at 5:00 PM, and stays highlighted while the dates match it. You can still pick any closing time you like.

A new election starts with voting opening tomorrow at 9:00 AM and closing 7 days later at 5:00 PM. Change both to fit your notice period and your bylaws.

Open voting at launch with Now

Press Now next to Voting opens when you want voting to start as soon as you launch. The box fills in the current time, and the note “Voting opens as soon as you launch.” appears. The Runs line then reads Launch to, followed by the closing date.

• The time is taken again when you save, so it never falls behind.
• If the closing time is empty or isn't after the opening time, it's set to 7 days later at 5:00 PM.
• Typing your own opening time turns Now off.
• The invitations go out right after you launch.

Check the time zone

The line under the dates names the election's time zone. On a new election it's detected from your browser, such as “Times in Mountain Time (Edmonton), detected from your browser.”

1. If the zone is wrong, press Change.
2. In the Time zone list, find your region (America, Europe, Asia, Australia and so on), then a city in your zone.
3. Save. The dates keep the times you typed, now in the zone you picked.

Voting opens and closes at the same moment for everyone. A member in another zone votes in the same window, at their own local time. The invitation email, as written for you, gives the deadline in the election's zone, such as November 10, 2026 5:00 PM Mountain Time, so name the zone in your own notices too.

The list names zones by city. Fixed offsets such as UTC-5 aren't in it: pick a city that keeps your clock instead. UTC is in the list too.

If the dates show an error

A draft whose opening time passes before you launch can still launch, as long as the closing time is ahead: voting then opens as soon as you launch. If voting would already be over, the Launch step asks you to choose new dates.

The Settings card

Below the dates, Settings holds three choices. Safe choices are selected for you, and you can change them until you launch. The i button beside each one explains it.

Who can see results while voting is open?

• No one (the default): nobody sees the count, you included, until voting ends.
• You and your observers: you, and anyone you give an observer link, see the totals as votes come in.

Either way, the results open to you and your observers when voting ends, and you choose whether to share them with voters. You and your observers always see turnout. See results visibility settings.

How will voters get their key?

Pick one or more. A new election starts with Email.

• Email: we email each voter a link.
• Text message: we text each voter a link.
• Hand out keys: after launch, you print or share each key yourself.

Each voter gets a private 16-character key, which is all they need to vote. See send voting links by email or SMS.

Extra columns in your voter list

Each one you turn on is a column on the Voters step. All are optional, and a new election starts with Voter label on.

• Voter label: a name for each voter, so you recognize them on the Voters tab.
• Ballot IDs: your own member or unit number, different for each voter.
• Weighted ballots: a Weight column, for votes by units or shares. Every voter needs a whole-number weight. It's not for union officer elections, which require one member, one vote.

Changing Weighted ballots after you've added voters means checking your voter list again on the Voters step before you launch. See weighted voting.

Under the settings, a note confirms that every ballot is secret: no one, including you, can see how a member voted.

Save and continue

The Your election so far panel shows the name, the dates, the results setting and how keys go out, then the ballot, voters and price once you reach those steps.

• Save keeps you on the page and shows “Saved.”
• Continue to ballot saves and opens the Ballot step.
• Cancel, on a new election, goes back to My elections without saving.

Saving Start the first time creates your draft. After that, every step at the top of the page is a link.

Changing the dates later

Before launch, change the dates on Start at any time. If a draft's dates pass before you launch, My elections marks it Voting dates have passed and offers Pick new dates. Everything else you set up is kept.

After launch, the dates can't change. To end voting sooner, use Close voting early in the dashboard's More menu. Voting also closes as soon as every key has been used.