How to Set Up Remote Voting for Your Board of Directors

In the past board members needed to travel to in-person meetings to cast their votes. With the advent of new technologies such as video conferencing, as well as online voting platforms board members are now able to vote from home. The process is much quicker and more efficient, which means better productivity and more efficient decision-making for the organization.

When setting up remote voting on your board, there are several important things to take into account. First, you have to determine the method of voting to be employed. The majority of organizations employ nominations before the election. In this process, candidates register to be in the race, and earn their way by accumulating signatures, or are nominated by colleagues. A robust nomination process can increase enthusiasm in the beginning and attract an increased number of qualified candidates. This will help to ensure that the organization has the best possible representation in its leadership.

The voting process via email has a variety of issues, among them the fact that the results aren’t tamper proof and cannot be recorded in real-time. Additionally, when the board director responds to an email ballot using a different answer format than the rest of their peers It can be difficult to determine which responses are valid. The voting via email can also be a problem due to the fact that it’s not anonymous. This can pose what is corporate information technology an issue when voting on sensitive and confidential issues.

Some states and bylaws don’t allow voting by email. However, the majority of nonprofit boards can take action without a meeting if all directors can be heard and respond immediately and have signed an agreement in writing that shows their unanimous consent.