Voting: a guide for everyone who takes part
A vote has several kinds of people in it, and each needs to know only their own part. These four short guides are also inside Azonation, under How it works, in every language.
If you vote (a member)
- Open My memberships, your organisation, then Votes. You are also told when a vote opens.
- Read what is asked. Take your time: the vote stays open until the time shown.
- Choose your answer and press Cast my vote. You may also abstain. In an election you choose for each position, no more than it has seats.
- If you are asked for a code, press Send me a code and type the code you receive by email or text message. If you are asked to sign in again, do so: you come straight back.
- Write down your receipt. It is shown only once; press I have written it down to put it away.
- When the vote closes, the result is shown in the same place. Type your receipt under it to check that your vote was counted.
Is my vote secret? In a secret vote, yes: nobody can see what you chose. Azonation keeps who voted apart from what was voted. Your receipt shows that your vote was counted, never what it was.
"You cannot vote in this one": the reason is written beside it (for example your fee is not paid up). If you think it is wrong, tell your organisation; in an election you can ask the commission to look again, right there.
Try how voting works, at any time. At the top of Votes press Try a vote or Try an election. Azonation makes a demo that only you see, with pretend members: nobody else is told, and nothing counts. Choose your answer, press Cast my vote and write down your receipt. Then press Let the others vote and show the result, and type your receipt under the result to see that your vote was counted. Try an election takes you through it step by step: first the voter list (you are on it, and can try asking the commission to look again), then Go on to nominations, where pretend candidates have come forward and you can stand for a position yourself, then Go on to the ballot. Press Remove this demo when you are done; one left lying is removed by itself after a day.
A yellow "Practice" label means your organisation is trying the system. Join in to see how it works; your answer counts for nothing.
If you want to stand in an election (a candidate)
- When nominations open you are told. Open the election under Votes.
- Under Stand for a position choose the position and write a few words about yourself. Every member reads them with your name.
- If the election asks for it, two other members who may vote must Propose and Second you in the app before nominations close. Ask them.
- The election commission checks every candidate and tells you what it decided. If you are not accepted, the reason is shown.
- You can Withdraw until the final list is announced.
You cannot stand if you sit on the election commission, or if the rules of the election (time as a member, fees, meetings attended) leave you out. Azonation tells you which.
If you are on the election commission
- You are told by email. Sign in to Azonation with that email address (make an account with it if you have none) and open My elections, or the link in the email. You need not be a member of the organisation.
- The page shows the nine steps and one button for the next one. Read what a step does before you press: none can be taken back.
- Voter list: answer every member who asks you to look again (uphold it, and they are put on the list). You can also decide about one member by hand, with a reason.
- Candidates: beside each one Azonation shows whether they pass the rules and have their supporters. Accept or reject; a rejection must say why.
- Final list, then the ballot. While members vote you see only how many have voted.
- Count: you see it first. Equal votes for the last seat are drawn by lot, or the chief commissioner chooses, as the rules say.
- The chief commissioner certifies and announces the result, answers complaints, and makes the result final. Download the result, print it and sign it.
Chief, commissioner, observer: the chief and the commissioners run the election; only the chief certifies and makes final; an observer watches and changes nothing.
If you hold the vote (an organiser)
- Write the vote: what is asked, when it opens and closes, and who may vote.
- Try it first with a practice copy, and vote in it yourself.
- Check Who may vote. It shows why anyone is left out.
- Open the vote. The list is then fixed and the members are told.
- While it is open you see how many have voted, never how it stands. Remind those who have not voted.
- When it closes it is counted once. The result is kept and cannot be changed.
Tell your members beforehand what will be voted on, when, and who may vote, the way your own rules ask. Azonation sends the notices; the decision to hold a vote is yours.
Try it with your own organisation
Free for up to 100 members, for as long as you like. No card, no sales call.