Category: Voting System

After supporting thousands of organizations and tens of thousands of online voting elections, one lesson becomes clear: many election issues originate long before online voting begins.

Voter data, election requirements, communications, testing, and support planning all play an important role in delivering a successful online voting experience.

Fortunately, a little preparation can go a long way. Whether your organization is implementing online voting for the first time or building on years of online election experience, here are six common mistakes to avoid before online voting even begins.

1. Overlooking Voter Data Quality

An online voting election is only as accurate as the voter information used to run it.

In many cases, an election becomes an unexpected audit of an organization’s membership data. Missing email addresses, outdated member records, duplicate entries, and eligibility discrepancies often surface only when voting begins, creating unnecessary work for organizers and frustration for voters.

Practical tip: Before importing voters into your online voting platform, export your voter list from your internal membership system and review it for duplicate records, missing email addresses, outdated member status information, incorrect membership categories, and other eligibility-related data.

2. Failing to Review Election Rules and Requirements

Before setting up an online election, organizations should take time to review the rules and requirements that govern the voting process.

Whether requirements come from bylaws, policies, legislation, or governing documents, these rules often influence how ballots must be structured, who is eligible to vote, how candidates are nominated, and how results are reported.

This is particularly important when transitioning from paper ballots or other voting methods to online voting, as existing procedures may need to be reviewed and adapted.

Practical tip: Create a simple election checklist that documents voter eligibility requirements, positions being elected, ballot rules, candidate information requirements, and any quorum or approval thresholds before election setup begins.

3. Treating Voter Communications as an Afterthought

Even a well-configured online election can encounter participation challenges if voters do not understand how, when, or where to vote.

Low voter turnout is often assumed to be a technology problem when it is frequently a communication problem.

Providing clear instructions in advance can reduce confusion, improve participation, and minimize questions once voting begins. This is especially important when online voting is being introduced for the first time, or when some voters may be less familiar with technology and online tools.

Practical tip: Consider how election information will be communicated through both your organization’s existing channels and your online voting platform. Announcements on websites, newsletters, member portals, or internal communications can help build awareness before voting opens, while voting invitations and reminder notices sent through the online voting platform can help drive participation once voting is underway.

4. Failing to Test and Proof the Election Setup

Whether an organization is conducting online voting for the first time or the fifteenth time, testing remains an important step.

Many election issues are not discovered during setup—they are discovered when someone experiences the election as a voter.

Testing provides an opportunity to verify ballot design, voter authentication processes, candidate information, voting instructions, and voter communications before the election is opened to participants. Ideally, an online voting provider should also offer a built-in proofing process that allows organizers to preview exactly how the ballot will appear and function from a voter’s perspective before voting begins.

This voter-facing review can help identify formatting issues, incorrect candidate information, missing candidates, incorrect voting options, or confusing instructions before they impact voters.

Practical tip: Determine what level of testing is appropriate for your election. Some organizations may simply review and proof the ballot, while others may prefer to conduct a complete dry run. A good online voting platform should provide multiple ways to test and validate the election before voting begins.

5. Assuming Help Will Be Available When You Need It

Organizer support is often considered only after a question arises or a problem occurs.

However, organizations should think about support requirements during the planning phase. Election organizers may require guidance before or during the election, particularly when conducting online voting for the first time or managing a complex election.

Practical tip: Before selecting a provider, ask how organizers can obtain help during an active election. Look beyond documentation and email support to understand whether direct phone support and emergency assistance are available when time-sensitive questions arise.

6. Choosing a Provider Based Solely on Price

Cost is an important consideration when evaluating online voting providers, but it should not be the only factor.

Organizations sometimes spend more time comparing prices than comparing the factors that will actually influence the success of the election.

Differences in security practices, election experience, support resources, and service offerings can have a significant impact on the election experience. At the same time, a higher price does not automatically guarantee a better platform or better service.

Practical tip: Compare providers against a checklist that includes security, support, election capabilities, reporting, service options, and pricing. Focus on overall value and fit for your organization’s needs rather than simply selecting the least expensive or most expensive option.

Preparing for Successful Online Voting

Successful online voting starts long before the first ballot is cast.

By maintaining accurate voter information, reviewing election requirements, communicating effectively, testing thoroughly, and selecting the right online voting provider, organizations can create a better experience for both organizers and voters.

Whether an organization is conducting online voting for the first time or building on years of online election experience, a little preparation before voting begins can go a long way toward ensuring a smooth, secure, and successful online voting event.

Planning an upcoming online voting election? Simply Voting has helped thousands of organizations conduct secure online elections. If you’d like to learn more about online voting or discuss your election requirements, contact us today.

Online voting has become an increasingly popular way for organizations to conduct elections. From associations and unions to universities, cooperatives, nonprofits, and homeowners associations, organizations are turning to online voting to increase participation, improve accessibility, and simplify election administration.

With many online voting providers available, it is important to understand which factors matter most when evaluating potential vendors. While features and pricing are important considerations, organizations should also evaluate a provider’s security practices, election expertise, support resources, and service offerings. The right provider should align with your organization’s election requirements, security expectations, governance needs, and administrative resources.

Here are some key factors to consider when evaluating online voting providers.

Start With Your Election Requirements

Before comparing providers, it’s important to understand your organization’s election process. Some organizations conduct straightforward elections, while others manage complex governance processes involving nominations, multiple constituencies, weighted voting, or several stages of voting.

Clearly defining your requirements will help ensure the provider you choose can support your election process today and as your organization evolves, while helping you get the most value from online voting over the long term. Experienced online voting providers should also help identify requirements that may otherwise be overlooked.

Evaluate Security and Compliance

Security should be one of the first areas examined when evaluating an online voting provider.

Participants need confidence that only eligible voters can vote, that ballots remain confidential, and that election results accurately reflect the outcome of the election. While many providers advertise secure online voting, organizations should look beyond marketing claims and understand the controls that are in place to protect elections.

A provider should be able to clearly explain how voters are authenticated, how ballot secrecy is maintained, and what measures are in place to safeguard election integrity and system availability throughout the voting period. It is also important to understand how security vulnerabilities are identified, managed, and resolved.

Organizations should look for evidence that a provider’s security practices have been independently validated. For example, SOC 2 compliance demonstrates that security controls have been assessed against recognized standards, while independent third-party penetration testing helps verify that systems are regularly evaluated for potential vulnerabilities and security risks.

Security is about more than technology alone. It includes the policies, procedures, audits, and operational practices that help protect elections and maintain confidence in the voting process. When evaluating providers, organizations should consider not only the security features offered, but also the provider’s overall commitment to security, compliance, and continuous improvement.

Assess Experience and Support

Not all online voting providers offer the same level of election expertise or client support.

When evaluating a provider, consider both their election experience and the support resources available to your organizational staff. A strong support program should offer multiple ways to get assistance, including self-service resources like guides and walkthroughs, responsive email support, and direct phone support from knowledgeable support staff when immediate assistance is needed.

Another often-overlooked factor is the availability of emergency support. Election issues do not always occur during normal business hours, and access to 24/7 emergency assistance can provide additional peace of mind while voting is underway.

Beyond support channels, organizations should consider a provider’s overall experience. How long have they been conducting online elections? What types of organizations do they serve? Have they successfully supported elections similar to yours?

Because elections are often highly visible events for organizations, responsive support and experienced guidance can be just as important as the technology itself.

Consider Election Management Services

In addition to evaluating support resources, organizations should also consider the level of election management assistance they may require.

Some organizations prefer a fully self-service approach, where administrators manage election setup, voter lists, communications, and results independently. Others may prefer additional guidance from experienced election professionals, particularly when conducting complex elections, implementing online voting for the first time, or when an independent third party is preferred.

Depending on the organization’s needs, additional services such as managed voter information mailings can further reduce administrative workload and help ensure voters receive the information they need to participate. Organizations with diverse voter populations may also benefit from providers that offer multiple voting channels, including online voting and telephone voting, helping ensure all eligible voters have a convenient and accessible way to cast their ballot.

Having the option to choose between self-service and managed elections allows organizations to select the level of assistance that best fits their needs. Whether administrators prefer to manage every aspect of an online voting project independently or rely on experienced election professionals for support, flexibility is crucial.

Administration, Visibility, and Reporting

A successful election should be simple to manage while providing administrators with the visibility they need throughout the process.

Election administrators should be able to efficiently manage voter lists, configure ballots, communicate with voters, and monitor participation without excessive manual work. Features such as voter list imports, scheduled reminders, cloning past election configurations, and multi-administrator access can help reduce workload and minimize the risk of errors.

Visibility during an active election is equally important. Administrators often need access to participation statistics and turnout information to help monitor election progress and support voter engagement efforts.

Once voting closes, reporting and audit capabilities help provide confidence in the outcome. Election records, participation statistics, certified results, and audit information can help organizations verify election activity, maintain governance records, and demonstrate transparency to voters and stakeholders.

An online voting provider should make elections easier to administer while providing the reporting and oversight tools needed to support confidence in the online voting process.

Choosing the Right Online Voting Provider

Successful online voting depends on more than technology alone. Security, experience, support, service options, and election expertise all play an important role in delivering a smooth and trustworthy election experience.

By evaluating providers carefully, organizations can make a more informed decision and select a partner that will support their elections long term.

At Simply Voting, availability is essential. Elections must remain accessible to voters, even in the face of deliberate attempts to disrupt them. One of the most common ways attackers try to interfere with online services is through Denial of Service (DoS) or Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks, which attempt to overwhelm systems with excessive traffic.

As these attacks have grown larger and more automated across the internet, we recently upgraded our DDoS protection to further strengthen the reliability of our platform.

What Is a DDoS Attack?

A DDoS attack floods a website or service with large volumes of traffic in an attempt to make it unavailable to legitimate users. These attacks can come from many sources at once and can scale very quickly.

For online elections, even brief disruptions are unacceptable. That is why DDoS protection must work automatically and at internet scale.

Our Previous Protection

In the past, Simply Voting used a DDoS protection system that could respond to attacks by redirecting traffic to specialized filtering systems when needed. This approach was effective and helped protect elections during periods of elevated risk.

However, it also relied on switching traffic paths during an attack, which adds complexity at exactly the moment when simplicity matters most.

Our New, Always-On Protection

We have now moved to a newer DDoS protection service provided by our hosting partner, Hut 8 High Performance Computing. It is built on carrier-grade DDoS protection technology from NETSCOUT Arbor. Arbor’s systems are widely used by internet service providers and large enterprises to protect critical online services against large-scale attacks.

Instead of reacting to an attack after it has already begun to affect our systems, traffic is continuously monitored and filtered before it ever reaches our servers. Malicious traffic is blocked automatically, while legitimate voters continue to access the platform normally.

This approach provides several important benefits:

• Always-on protection
  The system is active at all times and does not require manual action during an attack.
• Early blocking of attack traffic
  Harmful traffic is stopped before it can interfere with our infrastructure.
• No reliance on traffic redirection
  Protection does not depend on switching services or changing configurations during an incident.
• Full coverage
  All of our internet-facing systems are protected, not just specific endpoints.

Why This Matters for Elections

Elections have predictable timelines and high visibility, which can make them attractive targets for disruption. Our updated approach reduces the risk of outages during critical voting periods and simplifies how attacks are handled behind the scenes.

Most importantly, it helps ensure that voters can access the system when it matters most.

Part of a Broader Security Approach

DDoS protection is one part of Simply Voting’s broader security and reliability strategy. We combine network-level protections with monitoring, access controls, and operational safeguards designed to protect both availability and election integrity.

We continually review and improve these measures as technology and threats evolve.

For more information about how we protect our platform, please visit our Security & Reliability page.