Elections
Choosing a committee is the one vote nobody may doubt afterwards. An election in Azonation goes step by step, in the open, run by an election commission, and every step is kept as a record.
- In Voting press New vote and choose Election. Name the positions to fill and how many seats each has (Chair: 1; Committee member: 5).
- Set Who may vote and, further down, Who may stand (often stricter). Say what happens with equal votes for the last seat (Azonation draws lots, or the chief commissioner decides) and how many days members have for complaints after the result.
- Save, then press Choose the commission: a chief commissioner, commissioners, and observers who only watch. Type each person's name and email. A commissioner may be someone from outside your organisation: they sign in to Azonation with that email and find the election under My elections.
- Publish the voter list. Every member sees whether they may vote, and why not. A member can ask the commission to look again; the commission answers each one before going on. From this step on only the commission runs the election, and its rules can no longer be changed.
- Open nominations. Members stand for a position with a few words about themselves. If you asked for it, two other members propose and second them in the app.
- Close nominations. The commission accepts or rejects each candidate (a rejection says why). Azonation shows beside each one whether they pass the rules and have their supporters.
- Announce the final list. Members see the candidates, in an order drawn by lot. A position with no more candidates than seats is filled without a vote.
- Open the ballot. Members vote for each position, in secret, with a receipt. Close the ballot and count. Only the commission sees the count at first.
- Certify and announce the result (the chief commissioner). Members are told and see it. Download the result to print gives a page to sign and keep.
- After the days for complaints, Make the result final. Then, on the organisation's side, Add the winners to a committee: each takes the role of their position.
Who can do what: the people who manage your organisation set the election up and can always watch. Once the voter list is out, only the chief commissioner and the commissioners can move it on or decide anything. Certifying the result and making it final are the chief commissioner's. Without a commission, your organisation runs its own election.
Commissioners never stand as candidates, and vote only if you tick The commissioners may vote.
By hand: while the voter list is out the commission can decide about one member by hand, with a reason that is kept with the list.
Equal votes: when the chief commissioner decides, the count waits; the election page shows the candidates who are level and the chief chooses. The printed result says how it was decided.
A nomination fee: if you charge candidates a fee to stand, choose Who pays the fee and When to give the fee back: never; if they step down before being accepted, or are not accepted; or whenever they step down. A candidate owed money sees Refund due, and then Refunded once it is given back. Press Give the fee back: for a fee paid by hand choose where the money came out and the day it went back; a fee paid online goes back by itself. The refund is written in your books under Refunds, and Refund note gives a PDF for the candidate.
Proposing someone: members can propose another member for a position, with a short note of why. The nominee must accept first (Accept the nomination) before they stand. A proposal the nominee does not answer in time lapses.
Never in an election: a vote that can be changed, and a vote given to another member. Azonation switches both off.
Your own rules come first. Azonation is for your organisation's own elections under its own constitution. If a law says how you must hold them (some trade unions and co-operatives), follow that law.
Try it with your own organisation
Free for up to 100 members, for as long as you like. No card, no sales call.