Category: Company News

Giving Back in 2021 to Charitable Donations is part of our tradition. The COVID-19 pandemic has created enormous challenges which have significantly impacted all our daily lives. At Simply Voting, we continue to work around the clock to support organizations conducting safe elections online.

Alongside our work in the voting world, in 2020 we wanted to contribute to efforts being made by our local medical community to combat the pandemic, so Simply Voting donated $10,000 to the McGill Emergency COVID-19 Research Fund.

In 2021 we wanted to further expand our giving back efforts. We surveyed our staff for potential charitable organizations that continue to make a difference in our community and the world. Internally we ran our own secret ballot to determine where our focus would be this year. So, we are pleased to announce that Simply Voting has made a $10,000 donation to each of the following organizations:

• The Native Women’s Shelter of Montreal (NWSM)

The shelter helps support and provide frontline services to First Nations, Inuit, and Métis women and children to promote their empowerment and independence, by providing a safe environment where women can begin to rebuild their lives.

The NWSM is the only women’s shelter in Montreal, QC area that provides services exclusively to Aboriginal women and their children. For more information, please visit https://www.nwsm.info.

 

• Tree Canada
  

Tree Canada is the only national non-profit organization dedicated to planting and nurturing trees in rural and urban environments. Through their programs, research and engagement efforts, they have helped restore tree cover in areas hit by natural disasters. They guided communities in managing their urban forests, supported over 700 schoolyard greening projects and organized urban forest conferences. To date, with community partners and sponsors, they have planted more than 83 million trees. For more information, please visit www.treecanada.ca. Simply Voting’s donation will help sponsor Tree Canada’s Community Tree Grant program in the Montreal, QC area.

Simply Voting is proud to support the missions and efforts of these charitable organizations.

2020 Holiday Schedule: Please note that our office will be closed from December 21, 2020 through January 1, 2021.

Skeleton staff will be available to support ongoing elections. If you require emergency support during this time, please fill out the support form on our website and set the priority to “emergency”. One of our team members will follow up with you promptly.

Wishing everyone a safe and happy holiday season, and a very democratic New Year!

 

Simply Voting’s very first customer was the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU); thus, we are proud to be able to make a donation of $10,000 to COVID-19 Research to support the McGill community now, just as they supported us at the very beginning.

The COVID-19 pandemic has created enormous challenges when it comes to public health, and has significantly impacted the ways in which we live and work. At Simply Voting, we are working around the clock to support organizations as they shift to conducting elections online. Alongside our work in the voting world, we also wanted to contribute to efforts being made by our local medical community to combat the pandemic.

The McGill Emergency COVID-19 Research Fund has brought together more than 250 researchers who are specialized in infectious and immune-mediated diseases in order to engage in vital research that encompasses conducting clinical trials, creating new diagnostic tools, and developing drug therapies.

The McGill research community has played a leading role in the race to end the COVID-19 pandemic. Their experts has already worked with partners around the world to combat the spread of the coronavirus and help treat sufferers.

For more information regarding the McGill Emergency COVID-19 Research Fund, please visit their website.

An Ethics section has been added to our website, where you can read more about Simply Voting’s ethics, including our Code of Ethics and access to ethics related reporting.

The importance of ethics within the elections industry cannot be understated. While companies like Simply Voting are often involved in only a slice of organizational governance, platforms like our own can be critical in ensuring all stakeholders in the democratic process feel elections are conducted transparently and with integrity. Voting systems, and the companies and employees that maintain them, must engender trust in all those involved. To this end, we believe defining the ethics and values that all of us follow at Simply Voting is integral to servicing the needs of our customers and all other involved stakeholders.

Simply Voting maintains a Code of Ethics, which all employees are trained on and attest to on an annual basis. We also maintain an “ethics hotline” where employees or other outside parties may anonymously report ethical problems related to various areas of concern. An Ethics section has been added to our website, where you can read more about Simply Voting’s ethics, including our Code of Ethics and access to ethics related reporting.

We value our customer’s trust in our platform, in our employees, and in our business practices. We know that elections are often mission critical for organizations, and our promise to you is that we at Simply Voting will always strive to maintain the highest ethical principles and standards.

As the world continues to adapt to the COVID–19 pandemic, many organizations, companies, and institutions are re-evaluating the way they interact with one another and conduct their day-to-day business. Fortunately the impact of COVID-19 on Simply Voting has been relatively mild.

Demand for internet elections remains strong – in fact, stronger than ever due to a shift from in-person voting to remote voting due to social isolation measures. Our workforce is already equipped for and accustomed to telecommuting which, despite our beautiful office space, has always been a big part of our corporate culture. The data centres and other technical infrastructures of our voting system continue to perform at full service levels.

To prevent spread of the virus and safeguard Simply Voting’s operations we’ve taken a number of steps including:

• Requiring all employees to telecommute except for a rotating skeleton staff at our office space.
• Limiting non-essential business travel and using collaboration tools to conduct virtual meetings with our customers, partners and employees.
• Ensuring that employees have flexible working arrangements and access to childcare to remain productive throughout school closures.
• Following best practices recommended by local and international public-health authorities for safety and sanitizing procedures.
• Closely monitoring our vendors and suppliers to minimize potential upstream risks to our service levels.

We wish to reassure our customers and those who are now seeking online voting services, that we are operating at full capacity and do not anticipate any disruption in our ability to deliver service throughout a prolonged pandemic environment. Simply Voting stands ready to ensure that e-democracy continues in these difficult and trying times.

Happy Holidays 2019 everyone! Please note that our office will be closed from December 23, 2019 until January 3, 2020.

Skeleton staff will be available to support ongoing elections. If you require emergency support during this time please fill out the support form on our website. Set the priority to “emergency”, and someone will follow up with you shortly. You can also use our help portal!

As we wrap up another fantastic year, we want to express our heartfelt gratitude to all our customers and partners for their continued trust and support. 2019 has been an incredible journey, and we’re excited to continue providing you with reliable and innovative election solutions in 2020. May your holidays be filled with joy, relaxation, and memorable moments with your loved ones. Thank you for choosing Simply Voting. We look forward to serving you in the year ahead!

During the holiday season, we also take a moment to reflect on the milestones we’ve achieved together. From helping organizations run secure and transparent elections to building lasting relationships with our clients, we’re proud of the impact we’ve made in 2019. Your feedback, collaboration, and trust have been invaluable in driving us forward, and we’re excited to embark on new projects and challenges with you in the upcoming year. Here’s to a successful and prosperous 2020 for all!

Wishing all our customers and partners a wonderful holiday season, and we’ll see you in the New Year!

 

In case you missed it, in April Simply Voting was in Boston at the insurance and risk management industry professionals conference. RIMS, the risk management society™ empowers risk professionals to make the world safer, more secure, and more sustainable. Through networking, professional development, certification, advocacy, and research, RIMS and its 80 chapters serves more than 200,000 risk practitioners and business leaders from over 75 countries. Founded in 1950, the Society publishes the award-winning Risk Management Magazine and produces  RISKWORLD@ the largest annual gathering of global risk professionals.

Simply Voting attended their annual convention to meet with some of these entities. How do online elections fit into risk management? Corporations and insurance captives conduct shareholder votes annually to vote in their board of directors. Some of them even collect proxies to facilitate their vote and meet quorum.

Online elections play a significant role in risk management for corporations and insurance captives during their annual shareholder voting process. Here’s how:

1. Ensuring Compliance
   Online voting platforms help organizations comply with governance requirements by securely managing shareholder votes. They ensure transparency and accuracy in board elections, reducing the risk of disputes or regulatory non-compliance.
2. Meeting Quorum Efficiently
   By facilitating proxy collection and remote participation, online elections help entities achieve quorum more easily. This minimizes the risk of meeting delays or cancellations that could disrupt decision-making processes.
3. Mitigating Security Risks
   Reliable online election systems like Simply Voting provide robust security measures, such as encrypted vote storage and voter authentication, reducing the risk of fraud or unauthorized access. This protects the integrity of the election process.
4. Reducing Operational Risks
   Online platforms streamline vote management, reducing human error associated with manual processes like paper ballot handling or tallying. Automated systems ensure accurate and efficient outcomes, minimizing potential operational disruptions.
5. Enhancing Stakeholder Confidence
   Transparent and secure online voting increases trust among shareholders, ensuring that the voting process is fair and unbiased. This helps organizations maintain their reputation and foster stronger stakeholder relationships.

By integrating online elections into their processes, corporations and insurance captives effectively manage risks related to governance, compliance, and operational efficiency.

Sound like something you do? Contact us to learn more about the electronic voting and proxy collection solutions we have and are developing for corporations and insurance captives like you.