1 (800) 585-9694
Get Started
Get Started

Category: Company News|Voting System

Case Study: Unifor Local 2002

Posted on by Clémence Campillo

Unifor is Canada’s largest private sector union, representing workers in a wide range of industries across the country. It was formed in 2013 through the merger of two of Canada’s largest labor unions. Unifor Local 2002, one of UNIFOR’s larger locals, represents an average of 10,000 members in various jobs throughout the aviation industry across Canada. They have been using using Simply Voting for their union elections since 2014.

Requirements & Challenges:

Unifor Local 2002 wanted a streamlined voting process available to all voters across Canada for their complex election process:

  • 5 major regions, 60 districts
  • Tight turnaround and multiple simultaneous voting events
  • Bilingual ballots

Simply Voting’s Solution:

Simply Voting offers an online voting tool made easy for union voting:

  • Ease-of-Use:
    • Used a simple ballot layout to simplify the voting process
    • Provided unique IDs and passwords for each voter to facilitate easy login
  • Process Management:
    • Defined and set up unique voting events through regular communication
    • Performed “data sanity” checks
    • Provided segmented results

The results:

Unifor Local 2002 has used Simply Voting for 11 years running self-service elections for bargaining committee and ratification votes.

Want to Learn More?

If you’d like to explore how Simply Voting can support your union or association, contact us here: https://www.simplyvoting.com/contact-us/

HECVAT for Secure Online Voting in Higher Education

Posted on by Clémence Campillo

When choosing an online voting provider, data security and privacy are non-negotiable especially in higher education, where institutions must evaluate technology partners with exceptional care. That’s where HECVAT comes in.

The Higher Education Community Vendor Assessment Toolkit (HECVAT) is a standardized security questionnaire designed to help colleges and universities assess the risk, security posture, and privacy practices of third-party vendors.

At Simply Voting, we know how important it is for universities to trust the systems they rely on for student elections, faculty votes, governance decisions, and more. Hundreds of universities already trust us with their election. That’s why we make our completed full HECVAT questionnaire available to your institution upon request.

What Is HECVAT?

HECVAT is a comprehensive vendor security assessment tool developed and maintained by the Higher Education Information Security Council (HEISC).
It enables institutions to evaluate how well a technology provider protects sensitive data and manages security risks.

This standardized template typically includes hundreds of questions across multiple areas, such as:

  • Security & Governance: Policies, risk management processes, incident response, security roles, and organizational controls.
  • Data Protection & Privacy: Encryption, data storage, data retention, handling practices, and compliance with privacy standards.
  • Access & Identity Management: Authentication controls, authorization, MFA support, password policies, and access governance.
  • Application & Infrastructure Security: Secure development practices, vulnerability management, network protections, and hosting safeguards.
  • Business Continuity & Compliance: Backups, disaster recovery, uptime commitments, SOC 2 or other certifications, and legal/regulatory compliance.

How Universities Use HECVAT

Universities typically ask each potential vendor to complete a HECVAT so they can compare their security practices on equal footing.
To make your evaluation easier, Simply Voting has already completed a full HECVAT and can share it immediately upon request.

Your institution can then:

  • Review each section of the assessment
  • Compare multiple vendors on objective, consistent criteria
  • Validate that Simply Voting meets your security, privacy, and compliance requirements

This greatly simplifies vendor evaluation during procurement, IT security reviews, or risk assessments.

In Summary

HECVAT gives universities a clear, consistent, and transparent way to evaluate online voting vendors. It helps streamline your research process, ensures compliance with internal security policies, and supports confident decision-making when selecting an online voting platform.

If your university would like a copy of Simply Voting’s completed HECVAT, please contact us here or schedule a discovery call. We’ll be happy to provide it and guide you in your onboarding process.

Online voting for churches and religious organizations

Posted on by Clémence Campillo

Whether you are voting on church leadership elections, pastoral councils or budget approval votes, online voting offers a secure, transparent and convenient way to include every member in the process.

Why online voting matters for churches

Churches and religious organizations depend on their community. Members rely on leadership to stay connected to the needs and values of the congregation. That’s why it’s essential for leadership to have the opportunity to engage with members and gather their perspectives.

One of the most effective ways to do this is through organized elections. Elections allow voters to contribute to decisions shaping the church’s spiritual and administrative life. This process ensures that leadership positions are entrusted to individuals who embody the values, mission, and priorities of the wider faith community.

However, traditional voting methods, such as in-person voting, present logistical and accessibility challenges when members cannot attend voting in person.

With online voting, religious organizations can ensure:

  • Accessibility: Members can vote securely from anywhere, whether they are at home, traveling or unable to attend in person, helping increase turnout.
  • Security: Advanced security and authentication keep votes confidential and tamper-proof.
  • Cost-effective: Traditional elections involve significant preparation, such as printing ballots, establishing polling stations and times, and organizing volunteers to manage the process which require time, effort and financial expenses that might be more effectively directed elsewhere. Online voting simplifies the process and reduces costs.
  • Accuracy: Automatic voting counting removes the risk of human error and delivers instant, reliable results.
  • Transparency: Built-in audit trails ensure a trustworthy election process.

Modernizing religious organization elections

Online voting system simplifies your entire election process from nominations to results. Ballots can be customized to match your churches’ branding and challenges. Members can vote at their convenience regardless of geographical barriers and accessibility, which encourages higher participation.

Churches grow stronger when their communities have a voice.  By embracing secure digital solutions, religious organizations can strengthen their community  by making decision-making more inclusive, organized and transparent

Ready for the next step?

If your church or organization is preparing for an upcoming election, now is the perfect time to explore our online voting platform. Simply Voting offers a trusted online voting tool for churches and religious organizations.

Contact us here to simplify your next election with security, transparency and peace of mind.

Simply Voting is now an Approved Vendor for IAFF Elections

Posted on by Clémence Campillo

We are excited to announce that Simply Voting has officially become an approved vendor for IAFF elections. This partnership marks a new milestone in our commitment to provide transparent, secured and accessible elections for unions.

About IAFF:

The IAFF (International Association of Fire Fighters) is one of the largest and most influential labor unions in North America. They are advocating for the rights, safety, and future of fire fighters, emergency medical workers, and rescue workers across the United States and Canada.

Compliance with the LMRDA:

The IAFF follows the guidelines outlined by the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act, therefore complying with those guidelines is essential to become an approved vendor. This ensures that all vendors meet high standards for quality, security and practices.

The Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (LMRDA) establishes democratic standards for conducting regular elections of union officers and elections of delegates who elect officers. The Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS), an agency within the Department of Labor, is responsible for enforcing the LMRDA.

Simply Voting complies with the LMRDA’s requirements by:

  • Ensuring ballot secrecy and offering the ability to remove any link between a voter and their vote.
  • Ensuring that any voting credentials provided to members are not available to others, through union or company websites or in some other manner.
  • Employing safeguards that can detect and log efforts to breach the encrypted file and access information about how particular voters voted.
  • Using encryption technology meeting industry standards that ensures the integrity of the ballots at all points from when they are cast to decryption and counting and disclosing the use of such encryption technology to observers.
  • The opportunity to observe any steps necessary for the counting of the votes, and any other steps necessary to audit that process.
  • Maintenance of detailed logs of every transaction and means to ensure the integrity of those logs.
  • Periodic audits of the system by an authorized independent party.
  • Allowing union members to vote only through a secure portal
  • Randomizing the order in which votes are stored in the encrypted file so that the ballot tally reveals no information about the order in which votes were cast.
  • Offering the ability to store election records for 1 year or more.

The full guidelines can be found here.

Other types of unions we are serving:

Other unions also trust Simply Voting for their elections whether it is for collective bargaining or leadership votes. Our secured, accessible and customizable online voting system is designed to adapt to your requirements whether you need internet only or hybrid elections. We offer online voting, paper ballots, telephone voting and in person kiosks to make your elections more inclusive and efficient.

Whether you are planning on running a large-scale national vote or a small local one, our flexible online voting tool will meet your needs.

Learn more on how we support unions here.

California HOA Election Rules: How Simply Voting Ensures Compliance

Posted on by Clémence Campillo

Is Your HOA Ready for Electronic Voting? Simply Voting is Here to Help

As of January 1, 2025, California HOAs can legally implement electronic voting for most secret ballot elections. This change, driven by Assembly Bill 2159 (AB 2159), requires HOAs to update their Election Rules and adopt new record-keeping practices, such as maintaining lists of electronic and paper ballot voters.

With Simply Voting, your HOA can easily comply with AB 2159 and the Davis-Stirling Act. Simply Voting ensures compliance with secure, verifiable electronic ballots, user-friendly interfaces, and seamless record management, addressing essential requirements for Inspectors of Elections.

Key Features:

PRE-ELECTION

  1. Easy Opt-In and Opt-Out Options
    Simply Voting’s platform supports flexibility, allowing the inspector of election to upload voters who opted in to electronic voting with ease, as mandated by AB 2159.
  2. Secure Record Management
    AB 2159 necessitates keeping organized records, especially with email addresses of members voting electronically. Simply Voting ensures secure and compliant record management, simplifying the process for HOAs and aiding Inspectors of Elections in verifying and maintaining election integrity.
  3. Seamless Communication
    Once candidates are known election notices can be sent to voters in advance of voting, and as well as at the start of voting and periodic reminders to voters who haven’t yet voted. The platform’s customizable notifications keep members informed of election details, deadlines, and voting instructions, ensuring clear communication and boosting engagement.
  4. Hybrid Services: Simply Voting is compatible with hybrid events. It can be a hybrid mix of electronic, paper voting, prior to a meeting or during a meeting, candidate votes or motion votes.
  5. Device Communication Confirmation: we provide a sample test ballot portal at least 30 days before voting, allowing voters to test their devices with the voting system.
  6. User-Friendly and Accessible Design: AB-2159 requires that electronic voting systems be accessible to all HOA members, regardless of technical proficiency. Simply Voting’s intuitive interface is designed with ease of use in mind, helping to increase member engagement and participation. The platform’s accessibility ensures that all eligible members can cast their votes with ease, in compliance with the new law.

DURING THE ELECTION

  1. Member Authentication: Simply Voting provides secure identity authentication methods for online voting. Voting passwords are generated for each eligible voter and distributed by email. Or, Simply Voting integrates with your existing authentication method for a single-sign-on solution.
  2. Secure Ballot Transmission: Transmits electronic ballots securely to maintain integrity during transit.
  3. Compliance with Quorum Flexibility Under AB-1458
    With AB-1458’s reduced quorum allowances, Simply Voting can assist HOAs in managing and meeting updated quorum requirements for rescheduled meetings, ensuring elections remain valid and compliant with the latest California regulations.

POST-ELECTION

  1. Secure Storage: Maintains access to electronic ballots for authorized election officials for recounts and audits.
  2. Transparent and Auditable Results: Transparency is a cornerstone of AB-2159. Simply Voting offers a comprehensive audit trail and detailed verification processes, which allow HOAs to review and verify results post-election. This auditability enhances the integrity of the election and ensures that results are both accurate and trustworthy, meeting the law’s transparency requirements.

Other features required:

  • Write-in Candidates: Supports write-in options.
  • Weighted and Cumulative Voting: Allows cumulative voting in line with governing documents, maintaining secret ballot procedures.
  • True Anonymity: Permanently separates identifying information from ballots, ensuring anonymity and compliance with audit requirements.
  • All votes are final cannot be revoked.

These features not only align with regulatory requirements but also promote transparency, security, and member trust in the voting process.

With Simply Voting, California HOAs and Inspector of Elections can confidently adopt electronic voting, meeting all new legal requirements while providing a secure, transparent voting experience. Stay compliant with AB 2159 and provide your HOA members with a streamlined, trustworthy voting process.

CONTACT OUR TEAM FOR MORE INFORMATION OR GET A QUOTE